A relic from the past
by arawn92
Summary: 600 years ago, Hell awakened, and human countries disappeared from history, only 200 years later did the Theocracy, the Baharuth empire, the Re-estize kingdom and Holy kingdom were created. But, unknown to them, a country survived. A country from which some people will travel to cross Ainz's path...
1. Prologue

**An adventurer to be**

In the dark halls of the castle, a rather young woman was walking at a brisk pace. She wore a long, green dress with golden embroideries, blond hair, tucked in a bun on the side of her head, and a little white flower sticking out of the bun. She seemed to be between 23 and 28 years old. While not a world-class beauty, she was not lacking in any aspect.

The torches, unable to keep the warmth in the hallways, did not help very much as she was shivering in the cold morning air, hoping to get as fast as possible to her destination. She now remembered why she hated winter. So cold, so white, so uninteresting!

Noticing the sun starting the rise, she walked up to a balcony, and let the sun heat her up through the large window. Her body slowly but surely getting to a comfortable temperature, she looked down the castle to the city below her.

Riyal, the shield city, keeper of the last seventh sanctum, the fortress city, the city of the last hope, or simply the city in the mountains, ruled by the Electra family for generations.

The castle itself was built on the side of a mountain, the city was laid down the wall, and large fields currently empty with a few peasants already working them.

Not as strong as the beastmen, not as swift as the agile elves, not as experienced as the dwarves in their crafts, not as powerful as the mighty dragons, Nature didn't give any advantage to humans. All their hope was in unification. And they did. Because of all their enemies, the 10 original human countries merged into a single one, ruled by a council of the 10 former kings and emperors.

By their sheer numerical advantage, they crushed the enemy races, and made good relations with the ones they couldn't beat, such as dragons. From this golden age, strong men came. From the strong men, came good times. From good times, came weak men. And from weak men, came hard times.

Blinded by their greed, their selfishness, they did not acknowledge the danger. After all, what could possibly harm the 10 sanctuaries? They had wealth, they had huge armies, and no immediate danger.

600 years ago, hell awakened. The earth shaked, the volcanos spewed their magma, the skies turned dark, the winds howled their hatred, demons were walking where peasants were farming the day before... Nobody could have predicted this calamity. Nobody, except the Electra family. The astromancer at that time kept saying to anybody who listened to him that the world as we know will disappear. Sadly, nobody except the sanctuary of Rida listened to him. It was a small region, formerly known as the Rida kingdom.

A rather small land, encased in a mountain range, and faced with a rude climate, a small but very tough kingdom persisted through the ages.

They recalled all their people, mobilized all the population. The 2 sanctuaries boarding the Rida sanctuary noticed their behavior, but who would acknowledge the ruckus created by a child? Was what they thought.

When chaos erupted, only the Rida sanctuary was prepared. Hundreds of magicians were dying each day, just to keep the huge magic shields fed. Thanks to their sacrifice, the volcanic smoke didn't fall on the cities, and the demons could only watch from behind the protection, helpless.

When all was lost, survivors from the other sanctuaries came, in search of a safe heaven. From there came the name. The sanctuary of the last hope. The sanctuary of the shield.

But in face of all this chaos, some beautiful things appeared. The Stargazers. First, they were called like that because they kept watching the sky, admiring the destructive sight of nature. People called them crazy, some even proposed to burn them at stakes, as they were the ones preparing the arrival of some evil god. But quickly, their gazes went from scornful to admiring, when they saw what they could do. They received an insight on magic no one had, and protected the land.

No one could explain how they received their abilities. Not even the stargazers themselves. The most commonly accepted theory was that Mother Nature rewarded them for their calm among the most destructive chaos she could muster.

The Rida sanctuary became a kingdom once again after the great chaotic period, as there was no sense for the sanctuaries to be. However, as the only human nation surrounded by other races, survival was difficult. It was only because of the fact that the kingdom was enclaved in a mountain range, guarded by Jodal, the fortress guarding the entrance to it, that the kingdom was kept safe. Thanks to the sturdy walls, and the knighthood of the stargazers inside it, no foreign army ever went past Jodal in the past 600 years.

As she remembered her history lessons, the lady was interrupted by a voice.

"Lady Erina, what are you doing this early in the morning? Should I order a breakfast for you?"

Turning to the side, Erina saw a maid, talking to her. Vaguely remembering her, she responded with a small voice, not yet fully awakened:

"No, thank you. Father has summoned me, so I should get going now."

The maid changed completely when she heard it. She twisted nervously a curl of her hair, bowed quickly before leaving. Erina sighed.

' _Can't really blame her… We're talking about him after all.'_

Merick Electra was a good king. The population loved him, along with the Queen Arlette Electra. Thanks to his policies, all the small villages in the countryside were fortified. It was only a 3-meter-tall wall for most of the villages, but thanks to this the farmers were much safer, and the crop yields in the kingdom doubled in the least.

But that was only on the surface. The sacrifices he had to commit to keep the kingdom united were horrible. Some villages were abandoned, their inhabitants forcibly relocated. And of course, the rest of the population was never told.

Erina strayed away from the window, and approached the double-door leading to her father's office. Sighing one last time, she knocked on the door, and entered when she heard her father's voice.

The king was an old, bearded man. Despite his age, he still had deep, green eyes, as if his gaze could see the very soul of a person. The room was filled with bookshelves, an imposing desk where he was working, and magical lights on the ceiling.

"I called you a while ago now, Erina."

He said, still writing on whatever document.

"You're the only one who insists on working all night long, father"

She still she remembered how he slammed the door shut out of anger last night when everybody was telling him to rest.

"Erina, I hope you realize that the fact that I'm still working while you all are sleeping is one of the reasons my reign is such successful."

"Sorry father. I always forget how hard you work…"

Shame made her blush, when she remembered how she was… _enjoying_ herself last night while her father was working hard to keep the country safe.

"Anyway, I haven't called you for that. I'm getting old, Erina. I might not look like it, but that's only thanks to your mother's support that I'm still able to walk straight in front of everybody each day. Her potions are truly astounding."

Arlette Electra was known as the alchemist fairy. She earned that title because she frequently gave away potions and alchemical products to orphanages and poor villages to help them.

"But father…"

Erina didn't know what she wanted to say. All her rebuttal was rendered null even before she could say it, because it was true. Even if he didn't want people to notice it, she saw that he sighed more and more, and went away from meetings with his councillors and nobles for "private reasons" more frequently.

"No buts. You're smart, Erina, but sadly you're a woman. I would gladly put you in charge of the country, but the nobles would grow restless, and the possibility of a revolution would be high. And your brother is still too young. It might sound like a selfish request, but I would like to see my son get on the throne. As a father, I want to pledge allegiance to him proudly. But he needs experience. Both of you have already brilliant results in academic studies, but you need field experience. You will leave for one year with him. As you're proficient in magic, you will act as a bodyguard. I will also send a Stargazer knight, you all will act as a small adventuring party."

The amount of responsibilities was enormous. Her voice wavering a little, she answered.

« Yes, father. »

 **Hello, author here!**

 **I hope you liked what you read. I also hope that you will tell me what you think about this story. I've been thinking about a similar plot for a long time now, and as I'm addicted to overlord (I think we all are), I decided to put them together.**

 **You have probably noticed that for now, there is no connection whatsoever to the overlord serie, but I assure you it will come**

 **Also, there is a lot of explanation on the context of this kingdom and the sanctuaries I created. While it may look boring to you, I assure you this will be necessary as I plan to the 2 countries to interact. How? Well, you'll see later.**

 **English not being my first language (I'm a baguette), I hope you will forgive some errors or rather weird expressions.**

 **About the magic now. It may break the Overlord lore, but Ridans wizard are able to use wild magic (or soul magic). For the explanation, soul magic uses the power of the souls to directly alter reality, while tier magic uses the medium of mana to produce an effect.**

 **See you next publication!**

Edit (20/01/2018) : some errors corrected, and overall revision.


	2. Chapter 1: A rather grim beginning

Having recieved her orders, Erina could do nothing but nod. As the princess, she was known through the kingdom as being rebellious in nature, but confronted to her father's orders, she could only accept them.

"Tell the maid to send me the captain of the Stargazers, he will select the man to send with you."

"Yes… Father".

The task presenting itself to her was very heavy.

"Is something the matter, Erina?"

For the first time since the conversation started, Merick raised his head from his paperwork to look at his daughter.

"How can I put it… It is a very important task you gave me, and I accept it, but… Everything… My brother's life… All of this could go bad very quickly if I do a single mistake…"

There was a short silence in the room.

"Erina. I think it is time you understand something. You, are a member of the Electra household. You are an important figure in this country. You think I don't know where you are escaping in the middle of the night? I try not to shelter you too much, so that when you get a higher position in the kingdom, you will know how to handle things. I want you to be armed against life in your future."

The king rose from his chair, walked up to his daughter and hugged her gently.

"My family is everything to me, Erina. Thank the gods, no situation ever appeared where I had to choose between the kingdom and the family, because I would choose the latter without hesitation. I want you to be happy."

"Dad…"

She hugged her father back, crying a little. Even if she had a rebellious personality, it was the first time since a long time that she was reassured like that.

"I trust you, Eri. I trust you will protect you brother without fail, and so does your mother."

He left her, and came back to his seat.

« Now, go. Tell your brother you both have a quest. »

"Yes, father!"

Her eyes were shining with a new light. All her doubts left her, and she felt like she could take on whatever the world could send to her.

Having left her father's room, she went down the hallways to the underground of the castle, where her brother lived.

"I'll never understand how can he live like that… No sun, no air… At least the place is a little warmer…"

Noticing her coming, a guard watching the entrance to the underground part called her.

"Is som'thing the matter, m'Lady?"

"No, nothing. Do you know where Armant is, soldier?"

"Your brother m'Lady? I think he's sleepin' in his laboratory, m'Lady."

"Thank you."

"You' welcome m'Lady."

Wondering where that peasant lived to talk like that, she went past her brother's room up to his laboratory. She knocked on the door.

"Armant, are you there?"

No answer. She tried to open the door, but it was locked.

"Armant, god damnit, open to me." She knocked on the door again, louder.

Still no answer.

"Armant, you deserved it. If in 10 seconds this door is still locked, I swear I'm going to blast it open!"

Not even counting to 3, she started to gather the mana lingering on the air. She formed it into a solid block. At some point, the concentration of mana was so dense you could see a transparent blue sphere, hovering in the air.

"Sis, what do you wa-"

 **[Air hammer]!**

The door was sent flying, along with the person talking in a sleepy voice. It was destroyed on the impact. At least, Armant seemed fine.

"Ouch! What the hell, sis?!"

"Sorry, it seems I underestimated my brother's ability to be a human being."

Armant frowned. He was an 16 years old boy. Blonde hair like her sister's, green eyes like his father's, and old, dirty clothing, stained by dark liquids and torn at multiple places.

"You're wearing that again? That's not really fit to royalty, you know?"

"Going out at night unseen to whatever party organized by whoever is not fit to royalty too."

Both grinned to each other. The sister had the upper hand in discussions like that, but the brother always had the ability to find the good comeback. It was a testament of the good relations the siblings maintained. Erina lightly tapped her brother's head and smiled.

"Anyway, we have a request. You're to be the next king of this country, and you need experience. Dad's orders are to go away from the kingdom, gain field experience, and come back."

Armant yawned and went back inside.

"I'm sorry, come back when you have a better joke. This one isn't even worth 20 points out of 100. I had to work on a new machine late and I'm still tired."

She followed him inside. The room was a mess, with metal pieces lying on the floor, weird machines with tubes poking out, bottles filled with colored liquids and strange plans on a desk cramped between a fireplace and a large machine.

"Come on, Armant. If I wanted to joke, do you really believe I would come with such a pitiful one? You know me better than that."

He spent a moment to think about it.

"Hhm. I guess you're right. So? What is this request?"

"As I said, we have to go out of the country, to gain field experience. I still don't know if we'll use teleport gate or if we'll go to a closer place…"

"Right now? I'm still working on some plans, I need more time… Jeez, I guess I'll finish them when we come back… At least I'll have the occasion to test my new crossbow."

He grabbed a crossbow standing in a corner, and showed it to her. It looked like a regular crossbow, except there was a small metallic box on top of it. He shot 5 bolts into a wooden plank painted with a target, without reloading. All the bolts were stabbed in the middle of the target.

"Hehehe, impressive, isn't it?"

The mage raised an eyebrow

"You're taking everything in with a surprising calm, Armant."

He shot her an annoyed glance, probably regretting a little that she didn't even acknowledge his skills.

"Considering the situation, I guessed this order would come sooner or later. Or, is it that my such brilliant sister, better than everybody, never thought about it?"

She blushed, and spoke very quickly.

"We leave tomorrow. We'll have a Stargazer knight as reinforcement, you better be ready."

"Yeah, sure. Remember to send someone to repair the door YOU destroyed."

When she walked back, she noticed the guard from before. He was looking at the now destroyed door with a baffled expression.

"Is something the matter, _soldier?"_

He suddenly seemed very interested in a stain on his uniform.

"N-nothing m'Lady. Have a good'day m'Lady."

"That's what I thought. Send someone to repair it once your shift is over."

Without waiting for the answer, she went on her tracks.

The rest of the day went smoothly. She said goodbye to some noble friends, and to some other ones

Once that was done, she went to the castle's armory. All the equipment there was normally destined to the palace guards, but it wasn't unique enough for someone to recognize her based on her equipment.

She picked several pieces:

The [Boots of sure step], to ensure that she wouldn't miss an incantation during a battle because of a misplaced foot.

The [vest of destruction], which would increase the damage dealt by her spells.

The [pants of swiftness], to be able to outrun a possible melee fighter.

The [gloves of mana manipulation], enchanted to allow a more accurate control over mana.

Two [rings of focus], to ensure that she would stay focused even during battles.

The [Staff of wisdom], a staff found in an old ruin, which allowed the user to reduce the casting time for most spells.

And lastly, the [Calming crown], which would protect against mind-affecting magic.

Being goods mass-produced in the country, she was sure not to reveal her status from her equipment. Everything being enchanted, people would consider her as a noble or a rich adventurer. Which was exactly what she wanted.

All the equipment was given to a maid to prepare for tomorrow, and she could finally relax.

Well, "relax" had a different definition for each individual. And for Erina, it wasn't a common one.

The moon was beautiful, the sky was clear, there was no wind and it was not snowing. Even in winter, this was the perfect time for a night stroll. Putting on quickly some warm clothes, she thought that maybe it would be better to avoid getting sick just before her adventure. But that thought didn't last long, overcome by the excitement of exploration.

She jumped from her balcony down ground, using a wind spell to cushion her fall, and escaped from the castle, to the city. Avoiding the patrols was very easy, as she had done that before many times.

Riyal at night was a beautiful city. Everything was silent, apart from the occasional patrol or dog barking. Sometimes, a dispute would filter through the closed windows. The moonlight was enough to see where one walked, and gave an eerie feeling to the empty streets.

Parks and gardens were like stopped in time, and the frost covering each tree, leaf and blade of grass made it a splendid sight. Even if winter was an unpleasant season, that was one of the things she liked the most about it. At night, Nature took back its place at the very top. At night, everything became frozen in time, and the frost made everything glitter like jewels.

As she enjoyed the sight of the streets, her thoughts were interrupted by an approaching patrol. Back to reality, she hid behind a bush, and listened.

"I wonder what's up past the mountain range… I grew up in a village near the capital, but never really left the region."

"Well, I never went there, but I know there are outposts in the ruins of cities of former sanctuaries."

"Really? But I thought everything was abandoned after the chaotic era…"

"Apparently not everything. I think it must be about keeping control of the teleportation gates. Even if you can't really teleport to a gate without the permission from royalty. I heard there's some weird magic system which makes it so that you can't teleport from gate 1 to gate 2 without first activating something in gate 2."

"Why are we even protecting them if it's like that? And why do you know all that?"

"Are you stupid? If you can deny access with magic, I bet you can also do something to force it... And my brother told me about it, he's working as a transfer mage in Riyal's teleport gate"

"Guess you're right… If that's true, I pity the guys who are there, can't even imagine how it's like to live in a place where each shadow can hide a monster ready to tear you apart."

"Idiot, they don't send people like us, they send Stargazers."

They walked for a few meters, before on of them talked again.

"Now that you told me that, I wonder if something happened. Last night I had to deliver a message to the captain, and I didn't recognize the guy who gave it to me. The crest on his shield wasn't from Riyal, Jodal or any town I remember, and when I gave the message the captain told me to leave immediately and started shouting orders. Maybe he was…"

The voices faded away as the guards walked past her, and worry appeared on her face. Of course, she knew about the outposts, she was royalty after all, but she didn't hear of anything bad happening, and her father told her nothing. She hoped that it wouldn't somehow affect her adventure tomorrow…

Her mind was no longer at peace, and she was no longer so carefree about her mission.

Unable to put away the worry gnawing at the corner of her mind, the night felt very short. When the sun rose, she prepared herself, and met her parents one last time before having to go. The goodbyes were simple, with her mother bickering non-stop about her safety, safety for Armant and that she had to wear warm clothes as it was winter. The talk was even longer with Armant.

When she finished, her father stepped in front of her.

"Now, I think it's time to present the knight who will be travelling with you. Captain Wilhelm Capirossi, step forward."

The name put a smile on her face. Someone opened the door to the room they were in, and saluted. Wilhelm Capirossi was a Stargazer knight, but he was one of the people in charge of the security of the palace. He was only a few years older than Erina, but he was a great friend of her. He was a middle-aged man, brown short hair, brown eyes and a plain face. There was a scar along his right cheek.

He was wearing a simple plate armour, a shield, and was holding a full-faced helmet under his arms. A one-handed axe was hanging from his belt, and everything was enchanted.

"Captain Capirossi at your orders, lords, my ladies!"

The king smiled.

"You don't need to be so tense, Wilhelm. I know you're a friend of my children, that's why I chose you."

"I thank you for your trust, King Electra, but as a knight I must address you with the proper honorifics."

The knight kept a stiff face, and only loosened when Erina greeted him.

"Wilhelm, it's good that you're there, I was worried about who was going to stick with us. Knowing it's you tells me I won't have to worry about watching my back."

"I'm honoured, Lady Erina."

The knight went to Armant and ruffled through his hair.

"It's good to see you too, Armant. Didn't one of your crazy inventions blow up the castle already?"

Armant had an annoyed and enjoyed expression at the same time on his face.

"Oh, come on. It was only my bedroom, and I just had to convert a room to a laboratory to work again. Aside, I'm also glad that you're the one who will be travelling with us."

Clearing his throat, Merick got attention from everybody in the room.

"Anyway, let's go. I'll explain a few things in the carriage to the teleportation gate."

There was a good mood in the carriage. Arlette was talking to Armant about some of his new creations, and Erina, Merick and Wilhelm were discussing about the conditions of the mission. Erina and Armant would have to go adventuring for one year, the portal to Riyal would only accept them after that period of time. If teleportation to the gate was activated before that, the spell would simply not activate itself.

The king spoke in a serious tone to Erina.

"Erina, I will give you a single mana energy crystal. It will ONLY serve if you all are in a critical situation, and do not have any other choice. Use the mana within to teleport yourself and the others directly to the secret gate inside the palace."

She gulped as she received the purple crystal. It was only the size of a finger, but the mana contained in it was tremendous. Just by touching the crystal with her bare hands she could feel the energy, as if it was ready to blow up from within any time. She put it carefully in an inside pocket of her vest.

When she raised her head again, the king had strange expression.

"Please, I beg you, Eri. You too, Armant. Stay. Alive. I don't know what I will do if something were to happen to one of you."

They answered almost at the same time.

"Don't worry, dad. We're from the Electra family after all."

The carriage arrived at the gate a few minutes after this exchange.

It was a spherical building, with huge columns supporting a dome-shaped roof, made from white marble. Huge blue mana crystals the size of a man surrounded the place, and there was a huge magic formation engraved on the stone ground.

Even if it wasn't the first time for Erina, that place always awed her. To think that something so powerful was created by the tiny hands of mankind impressed her, and made her proud of being if the same race.

After a last hug, Wilhelm, Armant and Erina stood in the middle of the formation. A voice was heard in the whole building.

"Initiating magic transfer, please all person unrelated step back."

The mana crystals slowly but surely started to light up. As the blue glow grew stronger, so did the one from the magic formation. Finally, a bright blue flash made everyone watching go blind for a few second.

"Magic transfer complete. Initiating recharge. Crystals ready to be activated again in around 10 hours."

The Queen hugged the King from behind, and muttered:

"I hope everything's going to be fine…"

"I hope too, dear, I hope too…"

Travelling by teleportation is a hard thing to describe. Some people tell they walk in surreal landscapes, some tell that they just feel like nothing happened, and they are suddenly at their destination. Some even talk about throwing green powder in a fire. For Erina, the experience was not very comfortable. She felt like being compressed in a small tube, and sent in it at great speed.

When the teleportation finished, she lost her footing and someone caught her. The teleport made her feel groggy, and she had trouble staying straight. She finally found her balance again and stood up. Watching behind her, she saw the person who caught her. He was an old man, with grey hair and beard. Despite his age, he seemed fine as he was wearing a leather armour with a golden band on one of his shoulder pads, symbol of his function, and an arming sword at his waist.

"Thank you, governor. Sorry for this, I'm not used to teleportation."

"Oh, don't worry, Lady Erina. Teleport sickness is quite common. We were told by his majesty to welcome you. And by the way, I'm Philip Vardro, and as you noticed, I'm the governor of this outpost."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

After the presentation, Philip showed them around. The outpost was just an old fortress that was taken back from monsters. The majority of it was in a good condition, but you could see some traces where the walls were repaired. Bricks not matching with the other side of the walls, or even just some shabby planks nailed on a window. The hasty fortifications worried Erina, and not only the traces of recent fights _inside_ the walls.

"Governor, are you not worried that the fortifications are repaired so… hastily?"

"Don't worry lady Erina. There are only weak monsters in the vicinity, and it looks like they are intelligent enough not to attack us. The outpost is quite recent, it was only constructed 10 years ago. The first attacks were harsh, but thanks to our magic casters and archers, we didn't even need to draw out our swords.

"And what about the banners? There should be some banners with the Stargazer knighthood symbol on it, right?"

"Ah, about that. We expected you all to arrive in the evening, so they are still being dried from the washing."

"Hhmm…"

The rest of the visit was in the armoury. It wasn't empty, but the quality of the equipment was much worse than what she could find at the capital. That was to be expected, but still… _'What's happening here? Things are not right…'_

Erina talked with the governor to ease her worries.

"Say, governor, was there an attack recently? I didn't remember of one in the reports I read…"

"An attack, you say? Well, some insectoids managed to get inside the fortress a few days ago, they took out a few unarmed personnel before a guard noticed them and gave the alarm. It took us mere minutes to slay them. And before you ask how did insects managed to kill Stargazers, they were horrible. Some sort of centipedes, except they were 3 meters-long and they were as large as my arm… I still have shivers only thinking about them. True atrocities, if you ask me…"

The governor shivered, remembering the disgusting monsters.

There were, indeed traces of a battle. But that was the problem. A "battle" is not the same as a "fight".Dispatching a few monsters shouldn't have produced so much damages. _'I guess some other monsters attacked before…'_

She was reassured, but somehow the worry in her mind from yesterday kept growing bigger and bigger. _'That guard must have wanted to impress his friend… I hope…'_

The knights patrolling, the wizards on the walls and the smiling governor eased her mind, before she smiled back to him and kept on with the small talk. During all this, Wilhelm and Armant were also discussing quietly. Strangely enough, Wilhelm kept his hand near the handle of his axe, and Armant was fidgeting, looking worriedly at the patrolling guards.

After the little stroll, Philip spoke.

"Then, that is all, my lords. May I invite you for dinner? The teleporter still needs around 5 hours to be used again, and it will be night when it's recharged"

Erina answered. Somehow, she had forgotten about all her worries

"But of course, we would gladl-" The prince interrupted his sister.

"I'm sorry we will have to excuse ourselves for tonight, lord Vadro. We are to gain field experience after all, and being too protective might produce the contrary effect."

"Even just for a dinner? Well, I guess I can't help it. Feel free to ask anything to one of my subordinates if needed."

The governor walked away, leaving the group alone.

"What is it, Armant? It's not like a dinner will stop us from adventuring."

Erina was a little upset, and that was understandable. Philip's proposition might have been the last good dinner in a long time she would have. Wilhelm grabbed Erina by the arm, and forcefully pulled her into a room, probably being used as a warehouse. There were a lot of crates everywhere. Armant followed. Both were silent.

"What are you doing both of you? Is something happening?"

Armant picked a small crate, and tried opening it. Without a word, Wilhelm took his place and cracked it open. The crate was full of apples. Some were a little mouldy, but apart from that nothing unusual.

"Sister, tell me, what do you see in this crate?"

"What? Apples, of course? What am I supposed to see? A goblin?"

Getting annoyed, Armant looked at the knight beside him. It seemed there was some sort of silent conversation, because Wilhelm took out a little flask from his belt, and handed it to her.

"Erina. This is a very strong alcohol. Please, drink just a little. You need to clear your mind"

"Hmmm… Alright?"

Worried about the two men's sanity, she opened the flask and drank a little. The alcohol burned her throat, she coughed, and… _Something_ happened. She could not put her finger on what it was, but something was definitely happening.

"So, what now? I have a clear mind, is something supposed to happen? Some sort of magic trick?"

She said, as she handed the flask back to Wilhelm.

Armant now had a worried expression on his face. _"I kept one spare just in case, I hope it will work…"_ He handed her a necklace with a blue gem embedded on it.

"Put on this, Eri. If this doesn't work, I don't know what to do…"

With an even more worried expression, she put on the necklace. Again, _something_ was happening. It wasn't until she looked at the ground that she found what. The apples were changing before her eyes. From the beautiful red, green or golden luster, they started to rot at an unimaginable speed, and the smell of putrefaction assaulted her nose. Absolutely all the goods in the room, from the apples to the dried meat filled with worms hanging on the walls, were rotting. She couldn't refrain her body's natural response, and puked on the spot.

"What's… *gasp* happening… Here?"

She still had troubles keeping the light food she ate as breakfast inside her, and she didn't want to be cover the entire warehouse with wastes.

Armant put on a handkerchief on his nose, and answered.

"Magic. It must be illusion magic. Everything in this fortress is fake. You were so confident into your magic prowess that you forgot to protect yourself from it. What I just gave you is a [Necklace of truth]. It should protect you from the illusions"

Wilhelm took his axe out, and lightly hit it against the wooden wall. The plank didn't even put any resistance and broke immediately. He looked at the rotting goods, disgusted.

"Everything's rotting here. Some monster capable of using illusion magic must have taken this place a few weeks ago. Maybe a dryad? No, a dryad would have left vines everywhere. Thank the gods I also had a necklace like that. I'm confident in being able to beat every knight from the single palace in a duel, but against an enemy who is messing with your mind? That's not for me…"

Realising everything she has seen until now was a lie was pretty harsh, and a hard hit on her confidence about handling magic. Her stomach was calm again, so she could concentrate.

"Hang on a second. I will conjure magic protections on us"

 _'Soul magic, or regular mana shield? No, I'll need something that is sentient, to block the mental attacks'_ Having made her decision, she cut her finger on Wilhelm's axe blade, and chanted.

 **[You cannot hide from my sight, and neither can I. Lend me your power, and protect me and my companions from any malicious attack. My payment shall be my lifeforce]**

A thin flow of blood flew out out from her finger, and stopped after a few seconds. For outsiders, it might seem like the blood suddenly disappeared, but for the conjurer, she could hear the cheeky spectral laugh of the souls as they devoured the lifeforce inside the blood. After the dish, they gathered around her body and her companion's.

She put a piece of cloth around her finger, and said.

"Ha, now I would like to see him trying to influence us. Souls are weak against physical attacks, but are very efficient against magic. Should the enemy try using it on us, just ignore it"

Wilhelm seemed a little reassured. He put his axe back on his waist, and said

"We need to somehow tell the capital or another outpost what happened there. I know there's an emergency magic machine for self-destruction somewhere in the outpost. Usually it's underground, when everything is lost. Sadly, I can't accept getting both of you in such danger. I can't really think of anything else, though…"

Erina put her hand on her chin, thinking out loud.

"I have an idea. The governor, or whoever is controlling or posing as him, said the energy crystals for the teleportation would be charged back in 5 hours. We could wait until then, rush to the teleport gate. I could use delayed magic to produce a magic explosion, to destroy the gate once we are out. And I don't think he would be lying, because nobody can slow down the flow of mana inside the mana crystals, they recharge themselves alone."

Armant seemed to be thinking too for a while. He had taken out his crossbow, and loaded it with a magazine with five bolts.

"Theoretically, we could go to the governor's office. Maybe there is some kind of communication device with the capital. After all, he said he received orders to welcome us. Then again, it's too dangerous. I think your plan is the best one, sis. For once…However, if we suddenly disappear like that, it is likely the enemy will suspect that we broke free from his control, and do something before we can run to the portal gate. Let's go hanging around the portal gate. I saw a training ground near it, that's perfect. We'll make it look like we are training. Let's go"

When the group got out of the rotting warehouse, Erina was disgusted to see how she was cheated. And also, impressed at the quality of the illusion.

What looked like prideful knights guarding the passageways were no more than broken men, lazily holding onto their weapons. Most of them had some armour pieces missing, some even had big wooden sticks as weapons, instead of their previous shining blades and spears. They were absolutely all bandaged, be it the arm, the leg, the stomach. Nobody was uninjured, and the bandages seemed to be unchanged for days. The air reeked from the smell of wastes, infected wounds, and rotting corpses.

What was before tall walls, ready to take on even the hits of mighty giants, was now just an old, crumbling remnant. Stone dust fell if someone just touched it. And even more worrying, the south wall had a huge breach. But nobody seemed to care _. 'These people are probably already dead… Necromancy, and mind-control? The enemy is not to fiddle with… At least, we are prepared for such a smell… If not, I would have probably already puked my guts out…'_

They arrived at the training ground. The undead around her were doing what seemed like training. If hitting an inanimate body with an old branch could count as training.

She saw governor Vardro, smiling at her from a window. What was terrifying in his smile was… Maybe the missing eyeball, or the fact that one of his cheeks was torn open? Mustering up her courage, she tried to smile back, and wave her hand. Vardro seemed to be pleased, as he bowed lightly before going on about his occupations. Even if his master had ordered him to act with the living as if he was alive, cleaning up the weak monster in the vicinity was still his task.

Some time later, they gathered, and went in the direction of the portal. The large blue glowing crystals seemed to be the only thing not tainted by the corruption. This sight soothed Erina's mind. At least, it looked like the teleport gate was intact. Maybe the necromancer who took the place was trying to invade the kingdom through it? Right now, she had other things on her mind. However, there was an unknown man, rolled in a foetal position in the corner of the teleport gate. He kept muttering.

"They'realldead, They'realldead, They'realldead, They'realldead, They'reall…"

He didn't stop. When Wilhelm shaked him by the shoulder, the man moved his head. He had completely dry lips, a plain face, and blue eyes. Eyes of a madman. The eyes of a man who saw the darkest side of magic. He kept saying his catchphrase, but louder and louder.

"They'realldead, They'realldead THEY'REALLDEAD, THEY'RE ALL DEAD"

Finally, he was screaming. He kept shouting, before suddenly standing up and running to the breach in the wall. While running, he kept shouting and shouting.

"THEY'REALLDEAD, THEY'REALLDEAD…"

Until he was so far, his voice faded away.

The courtyard was in complete silence. Even the undead had stopped faking their lives.

Erina saw it first. A horrible demon, with the body of a frog, humanoid legs and hands, but with a sick green colour, and a horned head. He was wearing nothing but a loincloth, and had a twisted staff in his right hands. He pointed them with the staff and said a simple order, in a deep demonic voice.

" **Eat them."**

The undead started moving toward their direction, in a slow, but terrific pace.

"Quickly, Erina! Get the gate working, I'll stall them!"

Wilhelm prepared for the battle to come. He took out his axe and positioned himself at the entrance to the building to the teleport gate.

Without a word, she started focusing on the mechanism of the portal gate. Expanding her consciousness, she felt the power in the mana crystals, and started gathering it. The formation on the ground drank the mana at an incredible speed. Turning her head, she could see Wilhelm fighting the undead. Every time he hit something, fire flowed out from the axe, as if it was liquid and splashed against whatever it hit. Armant for his part was shooting his crossbow, but it was not very effective on unliving targets.

The demonic being tried to use magic against them, but the souls proved to be very effective

"It's ready! I have enough mana to summon an earth elemental to stall them and use the explosive magic!"

Without waiting for an answer, she started chanting.

 **[Deep from underground, I call upon the power of the earth to be by my side. Come, golem, and fight for me!]**

From the ground, first a rocky hand dug itself out, then a whole gorilla-shaped elemental appeared. It was a mix of dirt and rocks and only one meter tall, but it would be enough to stop the undead from passing the doors at least for a few seconds.

While Wilhelm and Armant were running to the formation, she started to gather the mana in the air. First, it was a transparent sphere the size of a pea, then the size of an apple, and then the size of a pumpkin. It was filled with energy, and the air was crackling around it.

 **[Thunder bomb]!**

She activated the formation, just after sending the sphere of pure energy on one of the columns. The last thing she heard before passing out was a demonic shout of frustration.

Somewhere in the middle of nowhere, a group of adventurers was walking. One of them, armed with a bow looked to the distance.

"Hey, isn't that a body on the ground, on the left?"

A woman dressed as a cleric of the water god went to check and said

"Yeah, it's a woman. And with pretty darn good equipment. Pretty sure she wouldn't regret some"

A knight-looking adventurer looked at the body on the ground.

"Come on Bella, didn't you just join a church because you wanted to redeem your criminal past? Anyway, let's bring her back to Carne village. We just left, and it's not like the goblins we have to kill will fly away. And I don't want you to waste your mana by healing her. Let's go".

He picked the woman on the ground and her staff, and started walking in the direction of Carne village.

 **Hello there,**

 **A quick explanation why Erina lost consciousness.**

 **Erina used a lot of lifeforce to cast the three wild magic spells. On top of that, she spell [Thunder bomb] is sixth-tier, so quite mana-consuming. That was too much for a single mage.**

 **Some might think that the end of the chapter was "dark", but it was so because the context was very dark. I do not plan for this story to become some emo-bullsh**, so do not worry. Lighter days are coming.**

 **Now:**

 **-Muratira, thanks a lot. I didn't even thought about it, and the use of " and ' actually helped me a lot to narrate.**

 **-Frenchy: I hope you're not a chocolatine eater, because if you are I will send papa Demiurge to take you to his prison. On the other hand, if you like pain au chocolat, you're welcome. (For those who do not understand, chocolatine and pain au chocolat will be the reason of a civil war in France in the future, i'm sure of it)**

 **-Akustik: The first chapter was short because it's my first time (be gentle, senpai) writing something for somebody or for public is new, so I still must find my marks, my style and pretty much everything. For now, sometimes there will be long chapters, sometimes short chapters, can't really answer you definitively.**

 **As for the release dates, I do not want to burden myself with one. I don't like being forced to do something, and I feel that having a weekly/every 2 weeks release would pressure me into actually writing it. And I don't think something being written under pressure would make a better story.**

 **So releases will be maybe weekly, maybe every 2 weeks, maybe i'll release something 3 days after releasing another thing. It will really depend on my pool of ideas. And also because of the fact that i'm a university student, and writing is very time-consuming.**

 **And a lot of thanks to the others, for their supports! As i already said, it's my first time (is it considered a gangbang, now?), so your comments help me a lot! I kept going on the website every 10 minutes looking for new ones!**

 **See you next publication!**

Edit(20/01/2018): A few errors corrected, and overall improvement.


	3. Chapter 3: The search begins

**Before you start reading, just a quick change I made. Previously, I said Armant was 11 years old. However, that's too limiting for me. I can't really make him fight, I can't make him an official adventurer, and I can't really use him in the story. That's why, from now on, he will be 16 years old.**

* * *

Erina woke up slowly. Her whole body ached from the over usage of mana she did. She was not sure If it her reserves were enough to launch the conjuration and the explosion spell first, but she had no choice back then. Then she remembered the high-quality mana crystal her father gave to her.

'What an idiot I am… I could have even activated the portal with it, and everything would have been fine…'

All the memories from before the teleportation came back to her head. At least, she seemed to be safe from all the horrors, as she was in a warm and dry place. Opening her eyes, she saw that she was in a wooden house with a roof made from straw. The bed she was resting on was also wooden, a quite poorly made. Probably some farmer's home. The house seemed empty of any occupants. She could hear however a dog barking and 2 people discussing near the door leading outside.

She sat on the bed, and realized she was naked. Blushing a little, she took the cover and draped herself in it. The sun was warming her from a tiny window on a wall. This sensation made her remember how the same thing happened just 2 days ago. For her situation to go bad this quickly made her laugh at herself.

'A bodyguard? What kind of bodyguard fuc*s up the very first day of his job… What have I done…'

Deep down, she knew she could have not predicted anything, but she couldn't stop herself from depreciating. If only she listened to the reports more, maybe she could have known what happened at the outpost. If only she did not overestimate herself, she could have protected herself and the others from the mind-controlling magic. If only she was a little bit more careful nothing would have happened.

She started sobbing quietly in the cover. She did not care if anyone was looking at her right now, because all she was seeing was her own faults.

An old, wrinkly hand started petting her head. There was an old woman standing by her side, petting and hugging her at the same time. She was the type of overly attached grandma, crooked a little from the age. She was speaking slowly, but in a certain way that helped Erina get a hold of herself.

"Now, now, dear. I don't know what happened to you, but you are safe now. Calm dooown. Caaaalm doooown…"

The kind voice guided her emotions, and she gradually stopped crying. At some point, she realized the cover had slid down from her body, and took it back, blushing. The grandma chuckled.

"Your clothing are cleaned up on a shelf in the other room. Put something on yourself before my husband comes back."

Thanking silently the granny, she went to the shelf, dressed herself and took her staff. When she came back, there was an old man near the granny.

"Thanks a lot, to the both of you. I assume you are this kind lady's husband. I'm Erina El-"

She interrupted herself before she said her full name. She didn't know where she was, but getting unrecognized was still a part of her mission.

"Eldra. I'm Erina Eldra."

The granny shaked her hand back and said

"I'm Roxan Lubin, and here is my husband, Jelde Lubin. Don't pay attention to him, he's shy in front of strangers. Come outside, let's talk a little"

Jelde groaned, but he seemed to accept it and opened the door for the women.

Outside was what looked like a typical village. Wooden house with straw roofs, children playing in the wheat fields, cows and sheeps getting guided to their enclosure, adults working in the fields and a forest on the side of the village. As there was no fortification, she deduced she was probably not in the Rida kingdom anymore.

They sat at a table, and Jelde brought what looked like tea. Drinking a little, her first question was naturally about her companions.

"Do you know if there was someone with me when you found me? A 15 years old boy, or an adventurer in full-body armour with an axe?"

The grandma took her time to sip at her tea before answering.

"We weren't the one who found you, dear. Jelde was going back from town when he met adventurers. They said they found you unconscious and he brought you back to heal you. I don't know what happened to you, but you stayed unconscious for 9 days."

"9 days? That much?"

She knew that mana overusage would make her lose consciousness, but to the extent of staying more than a week unconscious proved how much she exhausted her mind. Roxan kept on talking.

"During this time, I'm afraid nobody came. Who were those people?"

"My little brother and my… Uncle. I'm a researcher in magic, and I took my brother with me to discover the world, and my uncle to protect us. I was… Doing an experiment, when there was a flash and I only remember waking up in the Lubin's house."

She spoke lie after lie, but for a stranger it might sound as a plausible story. After all, researcher in magic was a rare profession, so common people did not even know where and how they were working.

But for now, Erina needed to know where she was, and find back her lost companions. Roxan kept listening to her.

"Can you tell me where I am, what is this place? Maybe something happened recently?"

She knew that, in the far south from the Rida kingdom, some people survived and created new human countries. Maybe she could understand better where she was if she knew where exactly.

Even better, if it was confirmed this place is a former sanctuary, she could find the ruins of the capital and activate the teleport gate to come back to the palace.

They spoke for a long time. Erina learned a lot about the village, from notable people living in it, to it's condition as a frontier village. And also about a mysterious sorcerer, Ainz Ooal Gown, who saved them from an attack a month ago

"He must have been an incredible sorcerer, to kill alone an entire group of knights, didn't he?"

"Indeed. We didn't saw the action the action as all the villagers were hiding in a barn, but the surviving soldiers from lord Gazef's party agreed on his abilities. They said that in a single spell, he obliterated more than 20 angels. And those angels were hard to kill even for a man as strong as Gazef."

Erina fell in deep thoughts. 'To be able to use a spell as powerful as that, he must have an enormous pool of mana… But then again, he used tiered magic. It must be something that I don't know about. Or he was receiving the help of a powerful spirit…'

As she was not responding, Roxan stood up. Sun was setting down, and the village was growing quieter. Wives were walking in the streets to go fetch their husbands for dinner and farmers were returning to their homes holding their tools or guiding cows to the barn.

"You can sleep at the same place you woke up. And it's not like I don't enjoy some company for once."

Erina smiled back before taking the cups and bringing them inside. Jelde as usual grunted before closing the door and the windows. The rest of the night passed calmly. When she started drowsing into sleep, she heard a man's voice. She was first startled, before remembering that she never heard Jelde. It must have been him. He had a surprisingly clear voice for somebody of his character.

"She's lying to us, Roxy. I don't know what it's about, but if she's a runaway noble, it might cause us some problems, you know…"

"Of course, I know, idiot. The only thing she said that was true is that something happened, and that she could have stopped it. So what? Will you stop her? Send a letter to E-rantel's guards to tell them that a strange woman came by? She will go away tomorrow. Now, come to sleep, I'm tired."

True to his character, Jelde grunted acknowledging, and blowed on the candle next to the bed.

* * *

Just after she woke up, Erina thanked again the couple, promising to help if needed. Roxan said goodbye, and surprisingly, Jelde muttered a "Goodbye".

She walked until she reached the house of the chief of the village. It was slightly bigger, and there was a field behind it. A woman was working in it, plucking what seemed to be herbs. For medical purpose, she guessed. The woman noticed Erina, and got closer. She was a bit plump.

"What brings you here, young woman? I don't recall you being a part of the village, and we don't require adventurers at the moment."

She said this looking particularly at Erina's magic staff.

"Sorry to bother you, miss. I'm looking for the village chief."

"My husband then? Wait a second, I'll go fetch him."

Erina thanked her with a now, and waited here. The woman went inside the house; and started shouting something. After a few minutes, a man appeared from the entrance. He looked a bit plump too, and was wearing some sort of hat. Maybe a proof of his function?

"Sorry to bother you, mister. I'm Erina Eldra, an adventurer, and…"

The man was not looking at her. Or rather, he was looking _behind_ her. He seemed relieved when he saw someone. Turning back, she saw a girl. She was very young, maybe around 10 years old.

"Nemu, your sister have been searching for you for a few hours now, don't disappear like that!"

The girl nodded and said hello to Erina before going in the direction of the village. The man sighed before looking back at Erina.

"Sorry missy. Her parents died in an attack a month ago, and she was left alone with her sister. A true tragedy if you ask me… Argh, and the tax collector is coming in a few days, we don't have enough grain and meat… Damn… Maybe I can try to ask for leniency, as we suffered an attack… Anyway, what can I help you with, missy?"

He said all this in a single breath, and looked to be quite talkative.

"I'm looking for some people. A young 11 years old boy, and a knight-looking adventurer. You wouldn't have heard about them, no?"

He touched his chin, as he was thinking.

"A young boy and a knight, right? I assume the knight was wearing a plate armor, right? I didn't saw them, but I heard something a few days ago. Some passing adventurers were saying that there was a ruckus in E-rantel because apparently, a knight appeared out of nowhere in an inn…"

Erina immediately grabbed the man by his shirt, not far from lifting him from the ground.

"Really? Where is he now? Where are they? Tell me everything you know!"

The chief was surprised because the frail woman in front of him didn't seem to have this much physical force.

"Calm down, missy! Really now!"

The wife's chief appeared in the door, alarmed by the outburst. When she saw what was happening, she frowned heavily. Flustered, Erina left her grip, before rearranging her clothes.

"Sorry mister, it's just that it's very important to me."

The chief rearranged his messy clothes too, and answered.

"It's all right. I can understand why you did that, but try to avoid it. Adventurers tend to have a short temper… Anyway, when the knight appeared, he was unconscious, and there was a lot of blood on him. Not his, though. A temple took him to be healed, but the same night some thieves broke into the temple and took him. Nobody know where he is now. Fun fact, the knight appeared and fell on a drunkard who couldn't pay his mead. Now, there's a superstition that every man who can't pay his alcohol will be literally immediately punished by a holy knight appearing out of nowhere. Innkeepers love him!"

Erina was now the one deep in thoughts.

'I fell unconscious when launching the teleportation spell. That means, that if this knight is Wilhelm, the teleportation worked for him, and probably for Armant too. The problem is that because I was unconscious I couldn't control our destination and we got teleported a few kilometres apart… I hope he's alright…'

The chief put a finger in the air.

"You know what, missy? You're here at a perfect time. Enri needs to go to E-rantel to sell medicinal herbs. If you're seeking information about that knight, it would be the best place to start searching. We can even pay you as an escort if you know how to fight to protect her from bandits or monsters."

The proposition was too beautiful to be avoided, so she agreed immediately. It was indeed the perfect way for her to get to the city. She could even earn some money, as the only thing valuable she was holding on were her equipment and some potions in her travel bag, and she was not sure the currency of her homeland would be accepted here.

* * *

A few hours after Erina's discussion with the village chief, a open cart was leaving the village. It it, there was Erina, a young girl around 18 years old, Enri, and some bags filled to the brim with herbs. It was driving slowly, but faster than a man walking.

Erina was writing the best she could in the rocking cart. She had always been interested in magic. When she was little, all the sparkling effects, the impossible things to do by hands, amazed her.

Even now, at the age of 25, it was still interesting for her. Some people would say that people of royal blood only organize balls and eat food bought with the tax money of hard-working citizen, that was not Erina's case.

Her level of mana control and intuition when using wild magic amazed the teachers of the royal academy of magics when she was younger, and the amazement only increased. Now, only the director and some teachers could match her talent. As royalty, it was likely that she would become the next head of the academy, so she had to prepare to study. As the head, she would have to develop new ways to use magic, or improve the already existing ones, so writing some ideas for the future only made sense.

On the driving seat, holding the reigns, Enri was amazed too. The village chief said that a mage would come with her to escort the carriage to E-rantel. After seeing what Lord Ainz could do with magic, she knew that it was incredible, but seeing in person was always impressive. The woman had a beautiful writing, and sometimes she stopped to make her pen levitate a few seconds, focusing on it, then start writing again.

Finally, she could not stop her curiosity anymore and started asking questions.

"Excuse me, is it magic you're doing?"

Without raising her head, the woman answered in a serious tone.

"Yes, it is. And by the way, you can all me Erina."

"Ah, hello, I'm Enri. And…What kind of magic? Sorry for asking, but magic has always amazed me. When I was little, I dreamed of becoming a wizard, but well, reality quickly reminded me who I was…"

The woman stopped writing, and looked at Enri with sparkling eyes. Enri didn't know where she stepped, but she started regretting it.

"Right?! Magic is awesome! Just the thought that without touching something, I can affect it! Imagine the possibilities of magic! Just imagine! We are so restricted by what we know, magic in our daily lives could change so much! We could ease the farmer's work, we could…"

She went on and on, excited by the interest of Enri in one of the things she loved the most. She started enumerating the use of magic, from medical utility, to economy, to laws, and many subjects Enri couldn't understand. Suddenly, she stopped and raised a hand when Enri was about to ask what was happening.

"Enri, hide in the cart, someone is coming close, and not from the road, probably bandits or hunters. I can only hope it's the latter, but you better hide now if things get ugly."

Enri became scared, and went hiding between two sack of herbs.

* * *

While Erina was rambling about magic and its use, her spell [alarm] had been activated. It means that someone was approaching the cart. Given that the signal came from the forest, and that there were 4 of them, a party of bandits was the most likely outcome.

Her intuition proved her right when she heard "Halt! Your valuables or your life!".

4 men came out of the forest. They were dirty and smelly. One was wearing a full-plate armor without the helmet, which could not possibly be his own. Probably the leader, given that the 3 others wore only leather armor. All their weapon were of bad quality, only the leader was armed with a saber that seemed well too much decorated to be his. Maybe one of his previous noble victim? Of the 3 others, one was holding a wood cutting axe, one was holding a machete, and the last was holding a poor quality sword and shield.

Erina casted silently [scout] to check her immediate surrounding. The bandits were the only signals near her, so she could only hope that there was no more bandits in the forest.

One of the bandits started talking.

"Come on, chief, you're talking those cliché bandit lines. Now, give us your valuables, and we may leave without hur-"

He was interrupted mid-sentence, as a rock as big as a fist was sent flying right to his head. While [Telekinesis] was deemed useless in fight by other mages, it worked only at short range. Erina loved to surprise them like that. But she could not cast it again, as now they were prepared to fight.

The bandit who was hit by the rock was unconscious, now only 3 bandits were left.

"Kill the bitch!" Shouted the leader, before charging.

Erina went on the top of the cart to gain some room to cast. She released a [Thunder bolt] on one of the bandits with a leather armor. The poor lad did not die, but his chest was in heavy pain, and he could only fall on one knee, waiting for the pain to subside.

The leader and the remaining bandit got to the cart and started climbing it. She poked the leader in the eye with her staff, and jumped on the one holding the shield. The leader fell off the cart, swearing a lot, and the other one was dragged down by Erina's weight. Once on the ground, she unsheated her dagger quickly and stabbed it right through his brain before he reacted.

While the swearing leader was getting up, she approached the one kneeling, and used her staff like a bat to crush his head in a big overhead swing.

Only the leader was left. He had a closed eye, and was still swearing continuously. He got up, and faced Erina. Her smug smile only fuelled his anger.

"So what? Would I happen to be an EYEsore?"

In his normal state, the leader wouldn't have even reacted to this bad pun. However, now that all his men, his close friends were lying dead before him, now that he felt so ashamed to be dominated by a woman, now that his eye was in so much pain, now that everything seemed to be lost, he lost his mind and charged with a shout of pure rage.

Erina blocked easily the overhead hit with her staff, before rotating it, making the man lose his grip on his weapon. She followed the attack by swiping his legs and making him fall again, before pointing the staff at his head.

"Goodbye, dear bandit. Your armor will be my fortune. **[Thunder bolt]**!"

The man's head exploded, with a little red mist coming out of the intact part of it.

* * *

As the sound of the fight faded away, Enri slowly raised from her hiding spot. Before her eyes, the mysterious mage freed her dagger from a bandit's head with a disgusting sound, and started cleaning it up with a piece of cloth.

"Is… Is everything okay?"

Her legs were wobbling, and she could barely stand up.

"Yes, it's alright. They were bad bandits. No ambush, no special moves, no magic, not even martial arts. I guess you'd expect at least a little bit more from bandits. But hey, we're also lucky there weren't more, I would have a hard time protecting you if it was the case."

Calming herself a little now that everything seemed safe, she looked at the corpses. Erina was already taking their purses. She couldn't say anything, after all Erina was the one who did the fighting, but to be able to kill like that, she definitely wasn't someone simple.

"Are you not taking his armor? It's worth a lot! Same for his sword!"

Erina looked at the armor with a sceptical eye. For her, this armor was what common foot soldiers would wear, but apparently, it was not the case in this country. The saber seemed enchanted somehow, but nothing exceptional either.

"Really? Can you help me get it out from him then?"

Enri looked at the man's body, and gulped.

"No sorry, it's a little bit too much for me. I can take it to the cart, but you will have to take It from him first."

"Fine then."

She started unequipping the armor from the body. Getting closer to it, she could confirm that it was only a regular steel plate armor, not enchanted. Something like this being expensive baffled her. She guessed that for people with a large country and a lot of soldiers, it would be harder to provide each one of them with it.

Finishing unequipping it, she helped Enri to put it in the cart. Before leaving, she grabbed the saber and hit a body with it. Blue ice started forming where the wound was.

'Ice enchantment, huh? Well, it could have been worse.'

She throwed the weapon on top of the armor, and climbed back into the cart.

"Let's go, then."

* * *

Enri was getting more and more curious about the woman. First, she thought that maybe she was an adventurer. Then, she said she was a magic researcher, then she killed 4 men like it was nothing, and now she was writing again on her notebook like nothing happened.

She decided that it would be impolite and dangerous to inquire about her past. If she was a runaway noble, getting rid of a peasant witness wouldn't be a problem.

They soon got close to E-rantel.

Erina watched with great interest as she wanted to see how a fortress city from here would compare with Jodal. The walls were plain, but high and sturdy. Overall, E-rantel's defences were at the same level, but she noticed a few things.

As Jodal was the frontier with the monster's land, it had better protections. Magic mine fields, fortified towers for archers and wizards to shoot and cast, and big mithril gates. In comparison, E-rantel's wall was plain, the plains down the walls seemed to have no defensive measures, and the gate was made from wood reinforced with, maybe steel? Knowing that her country made sturdier cities somehow made her feel better.

As night was coming, the queue to enter the city was short, and they could enter before the gates closed. One of the guards seemed like he wanted to say something to Erina, but another one stopped him just before.

"Oh, c'mon. I don't want to wait another half an hour for that mage, let's just finish the shift and go to the tavern."

"Yeah, you're right."

The guard made her sign to pass, and started seemed to signal something. Just after, the heavy sound of the gates closing could be heard.

Enri looked at Erina and engaged the conversation.

"So, what will you do now? All the armorsmiths are closed at this hour. Do you want me to keep the loot in the carriage? I'm sleeping at an inn."

Erina just noticed one thing. She had valuables gear on her, but _not a single coin._ She could still try to pay with currency from the kingdom, but her cover would be busted if she did.

"Sorry, can I sleep at the same inn? I have no money on me right now. I will pay you back once I sold the armor."

"Well, I guess you can do nothing about it. Alright, let's go."

The silence of the night slowly covered the entire city with the sound of the cart getting away from the gate.

* * *

The "Coughing pony" was a low-class inn, but it was known to be one of the cheapest around. As a village girl, Enri could not spare too much money, so she chose this one.

The dinner was tasteless and the other patrons were rude. It was only when Erina kicked one of them in the groin that they calmed down. The beds were of the same quality overall, coarse and made poorly. At least the covers were clean. Having trouble falling asleep, Erina thought about her plans for tomorrow.

'First I'll have to sell the armor and the saber. I need gold if I want to search for Wilhelm and pay for information. After, I'll go check the tavern where he teleported, then the temple if I get nothing. After that, I won't really have much choice, I'll have to go to a criminal cartel and get my information there…'

The light breathing of Enri in the next bed somehow calmed her down, and she finally fell asleep.

The next morning was a grey one. Snow fell during the night, so now the city seemed to be in lethargy. The snow muffled E-rantel's sound, and the white carpet on the streets only grew little by little as it didn't stop. People who didn't have to get out stayed inside their homes or taverns, only the merchants, craftsmen, and the poor stayed outside.

They both ate a light breakfast, got to the cart and went in the direction of the market. Erina needed to get there and Enri's destination, a friend's alchemy shop, was past the market. On their way, Enri bought 2 warm scarfs, and gave one to Erina. She tried to refuse, but Enri's smile and the promise of it being paid back made her accept.

When they got to the armorsmith, Enri helped Erina take out the gear, and said goodbye. The armorsmith was a big, grunt looking like man. He didn't raise his head when Erina called him, so she waited. Around 10 minutes later, he stopped hammering at the steel piece he was holding, put it to cool down and looked in her direction.

"I don't sell armor to women."

Similar to his look, his voice was deep, and his statement was to be expected.

"I'm not here to buy, I'm here to sell."

He looked at her with a more interested eye.

"Show me."

She unpacked the armor from the wool bag it was in. The smith approached, crouched and looked at the armor with great interest.

"Great quality."

He didn't seem very talkative. It was the very opposite of the village chief. He was taking each piece of equipment separately, touching it, feeling it and looking at it at each angle. He stopped moving the pieces when he saw a symbol on the left pauldron.

"Where d'you got it?"

"Ah, a bandit was wearing the armor, so I looted it once I killed him."

"Are ya an adventurer?"

"No, but I know how to fight."

The man seemed to think for a moment.

"Garin family. The son went out monster hunting to impress his father, without any type of training. It was about a week ago. Guess he didn't even made it to the monsters."

Erina was worried now. If the armorsmith told this Garin family she got the armor, she could be labelled as a noble killer. And no matter what kingdom, killing a noble couldn't go without consequences.

"So, is it a problem?"

"No. Just gotta hammer the armor piece until you can't recognize the crest. For the sword, go see Theodoric, on the opposite side of the place. He's a good weaponsmith."

He looked at the armor a bit more.

"75 gold?"

"Deal."

"Deal."

The deal was conducted without a hintch, and now Erina was richer than most of the common people living in E-rantel.

* * *

Theodoric was younger then the armorsmith. The only thing that hinted that he was a smith was the sound of hammering in the back. The front of the shop was a big room with rows and rows of different weapons. Swords, shortswords, axes, maces, hammers, spear, halberds...

When she told him who sent her, he immediately took a more friendly posture toward Erina.

"Durak told you to come here? That old man is always sending people looking for a weapon here, and I always send to him people looking for an armor. We kind of complete each other. So, what are you looking for, miss? A dagger, a shortsword?"

"Actually, I'm here to sell. I got an enchanted weapon from a bandit."

"Enchanted, you say? That's pretty unusual for a bandit to have that. But not unheard of. Show it to me."

Erina handed him the saber. He unseated it, and looked at the blade.

"Hhm, Durak was right. That's some good quality gear you have there. What's the enchantment?"

"Ice enchantment. When I hit a corpse with it, the wound was freezing."

Thedoric gave the weapon to Erina back, and went behind the counter. He took a heavy book from it, and started to turn the pages. When he noticed Erina's curious gaze, he smiled and said

"Description and effect of enchantments. A very useful book to have to find the right price of an enchanted weapon."

Without further description, he kept turning the pages, until he stopped at one.

"Your weapon have the [freeze] enchantment. Not as rare as [Cold shard], but still expensive. I'll take the sword for 25 gold. Is it alright?"

"Yes."

"Perfect. Just wait a little, I'll go fetch the gold."

Now that she had enough gold to live in luxury for a few months, she was prepared to go look for Wilhelm. As she had not even a hint about Armant's location, she could only bear with it and hope that he was alright.

* * *

Finding the tavern was very easy. Everyone in town knew about the event, and the tavern was even renamed "The falling knight". A name apparently hated by the nobility, but hiring someone to destroy it now would only reduce the little trust the citizens had toward them already.

As she went in, she was surprised. The village chief told her about a small tavern, with barely enough guests to avoid going bankrupt. But before her eyes, the enterprise was bustling with activity. The furniture seemed new, there were 2 waiters, and even a bard singing and playing the lute in a corner. The owner was obviously someone with a very good commercial mind. Some people were still taking their breakfasts.

She felt good, as the place was warm, in total opposition to the outside where it was still snowing.

Avoiding some already drunk patrons, she made her way up to the bar. The owner described as grim and unlikable was now smiling and wearing clean clothes. Fortune really does change a man. Everything, from his expression to his voice, was expressing happiness and well-being.

"What can I serve you, young miss? Some milk, some beer or something stronger?"

Understanding that he wouldn't say anything if she took nothing, she chose a strong alcohol to warm her throat.

"Give me something strong. And while you're at it, what can you tell me about the knight who appeared there? I'm kinda curious."

He had now an overjoyed expression. Apparently, he was very proud of being the owner of the establishment where something like this happened. Or maybe it was the fact that his inn went from being a low-grade establishment for drunkards to a place where more people came.

"You see, I just finished serving a guy, when he tried to get out without paying. I started yelling at him to get back, so the other patrons helped me catch it. But he was one sneaky bastard, and avoided everyone of them. He was about to exit, when the knight appeared. There was a bright blue flash. I don't know what happened, and frankly I don't care, but what I know is that the next thing I saw was the knight, lying on top of the drunkard. He was unconscious, and covered in blood. Everybody freaked out, but a priest who was preaching nearby came and started to heal him. After a few minutes, he said that the man was alright, only unconscious. He sent a man to his temple, and came back with more priests. They took him to the temple after that."

While he was telling passionately his story, Erina was sipping on her glass of alcohol. The drink had an amber color, and was very sweet.

"And you wouldn't know what god they were worshipping, those priests?"

The owner thought for a moment, and looked at her.

"I… Think they were priests of the water god. Yes, that would make sense, the water goddess is known to be the one with the best healing abilities. And for his beautiful priestesses, too."

He winked at her, before going to a customer asking for more beer.

Erina finished her drink, before getting up and leaving the establishment. She asked a random person for the direction to the water god temple, and walked to its direction.

* * *

The water goddess temple had a spherical shape, with a big statue of a drop of water in front of the entrance.

The inside was well lit, with large blue windows, giving a very serene atmosphere inside. The altar was composed of a little fountain flowing from a vase a held by a statue of a beautiful long-haired woman.

A priestess saw her, and came to meet Erina. She had a dark blue regular robe, and a white hood on her head.

"How can the temple of the water goddess be of help to you, miss…?"

"Erina. Erina Eldra. I wanted to have a conversation with the priest in charge the day when the knight who appeared out of nowhere was brought to be healed, if possible."

"I'm afraid mother Laurentia is busy right now. May I know why?"

She was told by the person who gave her the direction that water priests and priestesses were very good at detecting lies, so it was better to tell the truth, or tell the half-truth. Well, it's not like she had to hide her mission.

"That man was a close friend of mine. I'm worried about him now that he didn't came to the meeting we had, so I'm looking for him. And of course, I'm sure the water goddess would more appreciate that this gold went to the orphanage rather than some drinking."

She said that showing the priestess 10 gold coins. The priestess accepted the coins gracefully, before answering with a smile.

"The water goddess indeed approve of that. If you can wait a little, I will go looking for mother Laurentia."

A few minutes later, a middle-aged woman approached Erina. Her beauty was not as fresh as the previous priestess, but she had instead sharper features. She was wearing also a deep blue robe and a white hood, but her robe had white snake-like streaks on the side.

"I understand miss Eldra donated a lot for the orphanage we run. I thank you for your generosity."

Mother Laurentia bowed a little to Erina, before she stopped her.

"Please, I did what I could. Now, about the topic…"

"Indeed, please follow me."

They walked past the shrine in the living area of the church. They stopped before a door, and Mother Laurentia signaled her to go in. Once inside, she closed the door and talked to Erina.

"Your friend was kept in this room. There was a priest in charge of taking care of him. We only discovered he disappeared the next morning."

She signaled Erina to come closer. She was now whispering, and looking around the room as if there was someone.

"The priest was killed, but 8 of his fingers were cut…"

* * *

 **Hello there, author here!  
**

 **I hope you're enjoying the story so far. Personally, I had great fun writing it.**

 **What do you think about the fight scene? It's not the best there is (far from it, in fact), but I'm quite proud.**

 **As always, thanks a lot everybody for your support. I didn't think I would have this success when I started writing the first chapter.**

 **Also, a little explanation about the magicka level of the Rida kingdom.**

 **In the Rida kingdom, wild magic was and is always used. But, as the 8 greed kings didn't really went unnoticed, the kingdom became aware of the countries far in the south. They sent spies, and came back with the knowledge about tiered-magic. As the kingdom is much older, the magic research is more advanced, that's why Erina is using both type of magic.**

 **About the strenght, currently Erina is at the level of a lvl50 player. With her royal gear, weapon and equipment she would be at the level of Narberal** ** **.(Only at the magicka knowledge of course, her body is still human)**. I seem to remember that in the LN they say that the Pleiades are at level 70. I will consider her to be able to use spells up to the 5th tier, maybe 6th tier if particular conditions are met. And as you probably guessed, she is mainly an Electromancer, however that's not her only power. Don't worry, I won't make her have god-like powers.**

 **That's all folks, as always don't hesitate to comment about the story, or the characters, and see you next publication!**


	4. Chapter 4: Do not play with fire

Let's go back 9 days ago. A certain knight had fallen onto a drunkard, making him the "event of the day" in E-rantel. The nobles wanted to take him and take whatever profit they could, but the water goddess church was quicker. However, the man was also wanted in the underground organizations in the kingdom.

The Eight Fingers have so much influence within the Re-Estize Kingdom's underground that in all criminal activity of any consequence, they are either a part of it or they get a piece of it. While based in the Kingdom, the organization also extends its power into the Baharuth Empire, no doubt profiting from the slave trade that still exists legally as well as the black dust trade that is slowly making its way into the markets there.

The criminal organization is divided into eight departments: slave trafficking, assassinations, smuggling, larceny, drug trade, security, banking, and gambling. While the organization is united by common interest in ruling the Kingdom's underworld, each of the department heads do not look out for their colleagues' interests and welfare but merely use each other as a way to promote their own power within the Eight Fingers and the Kingdom.

On that day, the 8 heads were assembled in a common building in the residential area of E-rantel. The room was dark, and all but one was wearing hoods. One if the figures stood up.

"I assume you heard what happened in the 2nd district today, right?"

A serie of acknowledging grunts was heard. Even a clearer one, probably from a woman.

"If the man has an object to teleport, because I think we all agree it was teleportation, or even better knows how to do it, we mustn't let someone else have him."

The benefits from the ability to teleport were too much to be said. Stealing, killing, blackmailing, all those things could become basically as easy as breathing. Even more, if that knowledge went into the hands of their enemies, the results would be disastrous. The dangers of it were as much as the benefits, if not more.

The only man who was not hooded stood up as well. He was Zero, the head of the security division.

Zero was a giant, bald man with half of his face and body covered with tattoos of various beasts. There was a panther on his legs, a falcon on his back, a rhino on his arms, a buffalo on his chest, and a lion on his head. Everything about him is large. The outlines of his muscular figure could be seen through his clothes, and the cold glint in his eyes belongs to that of a seasoned warrior.

"My division could do it. If it's just raiding a temple, it will be hardly a challenge."

Another voice was heard. It was the voice of a woman, so it belonged to Hilma Cygnaeus, the only woman with a head position in the organization. She rose as well, and the cape moved, revealing a snake-like tatoo on her wrist.

"Zero, while I do not doubt of your and the security division's strength, I think it is a job that requires more precision. The smuggling division is better suited."

Zero looked at her with a bad eye, and sat down. A man's voice was heard.

"If it's just taking a man somewhere without being seen, it will be child's play for my division. I'm all for it. I'll tell my people to send it in one of our hideouts, it will be a less suspicious place."

Hilma, Zero, and the 5 other hooded figures nodded. As further talks would be unnecessary, everybody stood up and went out to their occupations.

* * *

"Eight fingers were cut? So what, is it a wound from a fight?"

The priestess looked dumbfounded for a moment.

"Are you maybe a stranger, Miss Eldra? The 8 fingers is the most powerful criminal organization in the Re-estize kingdom, maybe in all the human nations…"

If this organization was this important, doing anything that could influence them was playing with fire.

"Could you redirect me to someone with… Rare information? I have to save him, but I don't know where to start searching…"

Mother Laurentia had a strange expression on her face, then she shrugged her shoulders.

"It's miss's life that will be at risk after all. Search for a man named Velda. I don't know if he has the information, but he knows a lot. You will need a few silver coins to make him talk though. But I think It will not be a problem to you."

There it is. Now, she had all she needed for a little scouting mission.

"Thank you, mother Laurentia. Your information has helped me a lot. Just a quick last question, why did you help me? I don't think I made the largest donation since he was taken from the church…"

Mother Laurentia smiled.

"Indeed, a lot of people have come to look for him. Nobles, adventurers, even normal citizens. However, the goddess of water can see through all lies as in clear water. You are the first person who came being genuinely worried about this man."

Erina blushed a little, and smiled back.

"Thank you for the trust you showed to me, mother Laurentia. I'm deeply grateful for what you told me."

The priestess bowed, and showed the way to the exit.

Once outside, Erina considered her options. She had two of them. Either go spells blazing in their hideout and hope that Willhelm was here, or go to search for help. As the priestess insisted heavily on the 8 finger's power, the first option would be her last resort. For now, she would have to go to that Velda.

* * *

When asking about him, not a lot of people knew about the man. Some knew vaguely the name, but the majority didn't knew why they should know of him. Only a mage said that he thought that he was currently staying at an inn.

After two long hours of research, she finally found the establishment. It was some kind of gathering place for all the low-lives of the poor districts. An old tavern, with dirty walls and, _ancient_ would be the right word, furniture.

It was without saying that in this type of place, Erina stood out a lot. When she entered the run-down building, all the conversations stopped and everybody looked at her. Feeling under pressure, she made her way to the bar with much "Sorry", and "Pardon for the intrusion". The conversations slowly came back.

The barman was at the image of the building. Middle-aged, dirty shirt, and had a grumpy personality.

"I'm looking for Velda."

He grunted, before pointing at his left. There was a person seated on a back table, hidden in the shadows from the meagre light of a candle.

Approaching, she could make out somehow the figure of a very old man. He had a grey beard, no hair on top of his head, and was wearing very simple clothing. He was also smoking something from a pipe and there was a tankard on the table. She sat in front of him.

"I heard you could tell me some… Unusual things."

"Unusual you say, young lady? Well, it is true that I know some things that other people don't. The amount of what I remember depends on your generosity to an old man with no work".

She took out a few gold coins and put them on the table.

"I am feeling very generous. Tell me what you know about the knight who appeared ten days ago, and where he could be now."

The man put his pipe on the table, took one coin and bit it. He seemed satisfied, because he took the coins and put them in a pouch at his waist.

"You indeed are very generous. It has been very long since I have seen this much coins. Anyway, I guess you know the general story, so I will focus on other things."

He lowered his voice. Not that it changed much, because nobody was listening to them, but it must have been a habit for him.

"First, some say that he teleported. I asked a contact in the mage's guild, and he said that it was possible, it's just that they don't know how. Also, the man in the temple who was taking care of him was killed, and eig-"

Erina interrupted him abruptly.

"I know that already. I know who took him, and how. Just tell me where he could be right now."

"Well, that will ease my task a lot. The eight owns a lot of shops and buildings in the city. However, the knight the temple was raided, one of my contacts said to me that one of them received a delivery very late. A delivery this late is so unlikely that I'm ready to swear on my name that it was the knight you're looking for. I can only tell you the general direction, because my contact didn't want to endanger his life by following them. It was in the southern district. Here, they own three businesses there. A brothel, a warehouse they use for smuggling, and a gambling place."

He stopped talking, took a sip from his tankard, and put it back.

"Sorry, young lady, my age does not permit me talking for so long without interruption. Now, about the places. The gambling place is visited by a lot of people, and a lot of high-ranking officials, so I doubt he's there. That leaves you with the brothel and the warehouse. The warehouse is owned by a shop with high-class furniture. Both seem as likely as the other, and I don't know more, so now, it's your turn. Go. Come on, shoo, go away! I talked too long with you, I don't want to be discovered by the eight."

He energetically shooed her away. She didn't have much choice, so she thanked him quickly before leaving the inn. Now that she knew this, she would have to investigate this brothel and warehouse. The warehouse would likely have less security, to avoid unwanted attention from the city guards, so it would be her first place to scout.

* * *

She walked up to the south district. On her way, she bought a cape with a hood, and a pyromancer's staff. It cost her five gold coins, but for the sake of secrecy it was necessary.

It wasn't a noble district, but a high-ranking one nonetheless. Normally, she would be looked down upon by the inhabitants, but adventurers seemed much more present here than in any other city, making her blending in much easier.

The warehouse was behind a line of luxury shops, in a small back street. One of them was run by the eight, and the corresponding warehouse was behind it. The luxury furniture shop was easy to find, so was its warehouse. It was a smaller building than the shop itself, with slightly dirtier walls.

The cold weather and the fact that this was not the main street made it so that there was nobody here. No guard, no people walking in the street. She also hid her [staff of wisdom] behind a crate near the shop.

Erina hid just behind the counter of the building. An hour passed, and as she was cursing her lack of luck, she was relieved when she heard the sound of the door opening. Looking behind the corner, she could see a plump man with richly decorated clothes. She quickly put on the hood of her cape and just before he closed the door, she ran to him and put the point of her staff right before his head. Small fireballs were floating around it.

"Now now, let's get back in here…"

Instinctively, the man fell backward inside out of fear. She followed him and closed the door. There was a great amount of furniture everywhere. Desks, drawers, bathtubs, and some others covered by a tarp, all placed neatly on top of each other. The only source of light was a small window near the top of the walls, giving weak light.

"Let's play who-will-answer-my-questions-if-he-doesn't-want-to-suffer…"

* * *

Karles Ridolfi was a very simple man. He inherited his father's luxury furniture store when he was young. He has a loving wife and children, and is managing his business flawlessly. The only shadow in his life is the deal he made with the eight fingers. No, it would be more accurate to say he was forced to accept. He would have to sell things they got their hands on, and in return he would get a position in the organization. It was a very profitable deal, and he even wondered why he was choosen of all the merchants. Today, he thought about enjoying his wife's cooking with his children, yet his plans were destroyed. Because in front of it, a crazy woman just barged in his shop, closed the door, and was talking in a merry but menacing voice.

"Let's begin, piggy. **[Flame touch]"**

Her hand burst into fire, yet she didn't seem to mind it.

"You see this? It doesn't burn me. However… _Things…_ Could happen to you if I'm not satisfied with your answers. Do you understand? Oh, and don't bother resisting. I could burn you to cinders any moment."

She approached her hand to his face. The fire flickered, inching closer to his face. He nodded furiously.

"Poor thing… You're very unlucky, but that's life. Now, was the falling knight brought here?"

He nodded left and right.

"Are you sure?"

She approached her hand. The flame was so close he protected his head with his arms.

"Yes, I'm sure, my last delivery was a month ago, please don't hurt me, I have a family!"

Almost regretfully, she put her hand back where it was before. Close to his face, but not close enough to harm him.

"Do you know where he was taken?"

He raised his face from behind his arms. He had absolutely terrified eyes and his voice was wavering.

"I-I don't know, I don- don't know… Hiiiiiiiiiiiii!"

He cried out of fear when she approached her hand to his face again, and was about to start crying.

"Are. You. Sure. You. Don't. Know?"

Suddenly, she looked very serious. Her eyes were not those of a madman (madwoman?) like before, now she had the eyes of a predator.

"You better think now. Where. Is. He?"

His brain has probably never worked as fast as today in his life.

"S-sometimes the brothel receive cra-crates and nobody knows what's inside. But I think it's the s-slaves they keep for the best c-clients. He's pr-probably in the basement with the others, b-but they sent the crate the day to-tomorrow outside the city, so it ca-can only be in the hideout in th-the forest… It's at le-least a day's walking in the north, in an abandoned qu-quarry…"

She smiled, and the cold glint in her eyes disappeared.

"Now, that's better. I will get out. I will tell my men to watch this place. If in an hour's time, you make a single step out, you better be sure that you're not the only one who will be getting punished… Maybe your friends, maybe your family, who knows. Nobody would want that, right? Oh, and you better not tell anything to the eight. I think I do not need to tell why… Good day!"

The flame on her hand disappeared, and she got out. For the next two hours, Karles Ridolfi didn't even dare to look at the door, he just sat in a corner, and didn't move.

* * *

After her little interrogation, Erina got her [staff of wisdom] back and walked up to the adventurer's guild.

She was very satisfied of her action. The use of the pyromancer's staff and the [flame touch] spell made her look like a pyromancer. Moreover, the hood she was wearing during the interrogation hid her facial features in the dim light of the warehouse. Even if the man told the eight about her deed, it was not likely that she would be recognized by them.

The adventure's guild building was all white, except the door being made of wood, and flags hanging on each side of the door, with the adventurer's guild symbol on it. 2 crossed swords over the head of a goblinoid monster.

Inside, there was a loud atmosphere. Not much adventurers went out when it was snowing, so most of them were here, waiting for a quest near the city, drinking at the bar.

Once inside, she didn't know really what to do. Go on the board and write herself the quest, go herself and talk with adventurers, hoping that one would accept the quest?

Noticing her unease, a woman approached her. She was a middle-aged woman, with a pale rose dress, and a white hat.

"May I help you, miss?"

Erina looked visibly relieved, and talked to the woman.

"Yes, I'm here to put a request on the board."

"A request, it is? Follow me, I'll help you fill the administrative papers."

Erina followed the woman to the counter. She took out some papers from behind the counter, and put them on it.

"Here's a pen. Fill your name, content of your request, and the reward you wish to give. After that, we will examine the request and put an appropriate difficulty level."

She scribbled on the page for a moment. While she wrote, the woman asked her a question.

"I'm sorry, are you a mage? If yes, why would you have two staves?"

She stopped writing for an instant, and looked up.

"I'm a magic researcher. Right now, I'm studying how is mana flowing around staves according to their elements, so I need both for my studies."

The woman appeared admirative. Apparently, in this country magic researcher was a rare occupation, and most of the people never met one. Very proud of her lie-telling ability, she handed back the paper once she finished.

"We will now examine the request. Where may we find you if needed?"

Erina looked around. The place was lively, maybe a bit too much, but it was warm, and she would spare herself some time if an adventuring party was looking for her.

"I think I will just stay here. If by tonight nobody has showed up, I am staying at the "coughing poney"."

The woman nodded, said goodbye and went in the back of the building with the sheet. Erina made her way to a table, near a window. She was close enough to the fireplace to be warmed, and far enough to be able to talk without needing to shout.

Ten minutes after, the same woman went to the request board, and pinned a paper on it. Some adventurers came to see it, but they shrugged their shoulders quickly and went back to their seats. Erina guessed that it would take some time. The crackling of the fire, the sweet smell of alcohol and the snowy weather made her drowsy. It took her only a few minutes to fall asleep.

* * *

Some time later, she was awoken by an adventurer. The man was wearing plate armor on his torse, simple leather pants, had a sword at his waist and a shield. The rest of the party was composed of a wizard, a crossbowman, a druid and a thief. The druid was muttering in his beard, probably nonsensical things, and they all had gold plates hanging at their necks. The man with the breastplate spoke.

"Are you the one who left the request for the saving of your partner? I'm the leader of the "Steel will" adventurer party, and we're all gold plates."

Still somewhat sleepy, she rubbed her eyes before answering.

"Ah, yes, sorry. I'm Erina Eldra, and indeed I left this request. But before, can you tell me some things? First, what's your name, and second, why are you the only ones who came? I requested at least a gold plate, but the reward is much more than what gold plates earn usually…"

They all had a look of understanding.

"Ma'am, it seems like you're a stranger. If your reward is high, it means that it's very risky. Most of the adventurers are smart enough to avoid those requests. Our situation is a bit different. With the winter coming, our last quest was at least a month ago, so we're running low on coins. And I'm Ekain Leimann"

Erina yawned. Now was the time to explain the content of the request. They all sat around the table.

"Now, here's the story. I'm sure you know about the event of the falling knight, at least ten days ago. Well, this knight is a dear friend of mine. So I went looking for him, unfortunately he was taken by a bandit group, and now they ask for a ransom. A big one, that I can't afford to pay. So I need people to save him."

The leader pondered for a moment. The reward of 30 gold coins was very tempting, but the request would be very hard.

"Some precision, ma'am? I'm willing to accept, but we still don't know where is their hideout, how many, etc… And if they're of the eight fingers. If it has something to do, even thirty gold coins are not enough."

Erina smiled. This question was to be expected, but considering the average strength and equipment of the people in this country, she could probably take them on alone.

"Don't worry about that. I only need you to help me get him out of here. Once it's done, I have a sealing crystal with 6th tier magic to wipe the entire hideout."

The party was baffled. 6th tier magic was something only achieved by Fluder Paradyne, the court wizard of the Baharuth empire, and head of the Arwintar magic academy. Finding something that has equal power to the strongest human magic caster ever must have been an incredible stroke of luck for this woman.

Secretly, Erina was laughing. 6th tier magic was indeed a high tier even for her, but she could cast up to the 7th tier. Wiping out a den of bandits was an easy task for her. The real problem was close combat. She would have to go inside to save Wilhelm, and she was not as confident in her close-combat abilities.

"Yes, I had an incredible stroke of luck with this find. Also, I forgot to add, I will be a part of the assault. Not that I don't trust your abilities, but I want to be sure that we are at the right place. And now, will you accept?"

The leader closed his gaping mouth and rubbed his eyes.

"Sorry, we need a moment to discuss."

They all got up and walked a few meters away from her. While they were whispering, she ordered a tankard of mead and sipped on it. They got back around ten minutes after and sat back, and Ekain spoke again.

"We will accept. Even if the mission is risky, we really need the coins. As I already said, I'm Ekain, a warrior. My companions will present themselves."

The wizard was presented herself first. She was a small cute woman named Persis Trebert, with an overly excited voice. Her robe was yellow, and she had a metal staff with a blue gem embedded at the point.

The crossbowman was named Folke Averrof, and was wearing a mail shirt over red and yellow clothings. He had also a shortsword at his waist. He proclaimed himself to be able to shoot anyone in any situation. However, he was very easy to anger, particularly about his big nose, so the others simply called him "Firecracker".

The thief was different. He was wearing a common leather armor, but his skin was more dark-toned, so he was probably from a southern country. His name was also sounding southern, Jaz'her Alkaleh. He didn't say much more about himself.

If all the previous members were normal adventurers, the same could not be said about the druid. When his turn came, he didn't even raise his head, still muttering in his grey long beard. His robe was probably dark green a first, but it was too old and the colors faded away. Persis hit him lightly on the shoulder. He just raised his head, looked at her and went back to his muttering. She sighed before she spoke.  
" Excuse him, Eri. He's an old geezer, with weird magic! He heals, well, normally I'd say, but his spells are sooooo strange…"

The druid looked at her with an indignant face.

"My magic's not weird! It's all you youngsters who don't appreciate me, while I save your lives!"

"I don't call being covered in slime normal magic!"

"It saved you from the fireball the lich was casting!"

"And what about that time you invoked a watermelon?!"

"The orc tripped on it!"

They kept pestering at each other, until the party tried to stop them. Well, _tried_ was more of a term to describe the party trying to talk some sense into them, while the cute girl and the old man were ignoring them and cursing at the other. Ekain made an embarrassed smile and turned to face Erina.

"Well, as you see, Etolmus is a druid. He heals us fine, but it's true that his spells are… _unusual,_ to say the least. He was abandoned when he was young, and a circle of druids took him in, making him what he's today. I guess living alone in the woods with a group of old men took common sense from him, but monsters capable of using magic are always surprised!"

Erina raised her brows.

"As long as he's useful and you trust him, I see no reason to refuse. Meet me tomorrow morning at the northern gate."

As the moon was starting to rise, she told them goodbye and got out of the adventurer's guild building. It was not snowing, so she could only hope that the travel tomorrow wouldn't be too hard.

Back inside the "coughing poney", she paid back her debt to Enri and told her goodbye before going to sleep.

* * *

The next morning was cold, but dry. She was waiting at the northern gate for half an hour when the "Steel will" came.

They were wearing all heavy bags on their shoulders with all the tents and food necessary for the journey. Even if it was only a two-day long travel, the weather was still very unstable, so they would have to be ready for at least four or five days of travel.

They started walking as soon as the guard let them pass after seeing the plates on the adventurer's necks. Etolmus cast **[Muscle rest]** repeatedly on the journey every few hours to keep walking. Even if it cost him mana, it would regenerate between two spells. Nothing noteworthy really happened, they only walked north on the road, snow crackling at each step, while Persis and Etolmus were pestering at each other. Folke, Ekain and Erina were discussing about their adventures, and Jaz'her kept walking silently, watching the surroundings.

They finally arrived at the carry when the sun was already setting down. "Steel will" and Erina put up their tents in an opening in the forest, while Jaz'her went scouting the place. He came back an hour after, freezing and sneezing. Etolmus cast **[cold resistance]** on everybody when he saw this, and Jaz'her told them about what he found.

The quarry was literally a hole in the forest, with big unnaturally straight grey sides. Big enough to hold a whole big inn inside, and there were a lot of big rocks lying around, and even an abandonned mine cart. The only way in he found was some planks holding on the sides of the hole, forming a passageway, guarded by a wooden gate and guards. Their only possible strategy here would be to advance silently and hope to get as far as possible, then fight when they would get discovered. Luckily, the bandits were living in three caves in the quarry and it was night, so only the sentries were outside. Basically, if they could get rid of the sentries silently, they would be able to get inside undetected. Jaz'her overheard that a "package" was being interrogated in the prison.

Once Jaz'her was rested, and everybody was ready, it was time to begin the operation. They advanced in the direction of the carry under the cover of the trees and the night. Once they were close enough, Folke said in a soft voice **[eagle eye].** Seeing Erina eying him with a curious gaze, he simply said: "Martial arts".

He shot one of the sentries of the gate, while Persis cast **[silent tongue]** on the other. The other sentry tried to call for help, but no voice came out of his throat, only the quarrel of Folke's crossbow once he reloaded it. Only the sound of bodies falling in the snow was heard, so they advanced. The sentry at the top of the little archer tower behind the gate did not hear his comrades dying. He was lazily watching the surroundings, munching on a piece of bread. Folke could not get him in his line of sight without being seen, so Jaz'her went out. He escalated the wall with great agility, escalated the archer tower and ended the archer's life in a single throat slit.

They opened the gate, which luckily was well oiled and got inside. Jaz'her was waiting for them, near an unconscious body.

"We'll need to know how to get to the prison. Miss Erina, it's your job."

Erina cast **[flame touch]** again. The method worked well last time, so there was no point of changing it. She kept her pyromancer's staff, so even if one of them escaped, she wouldn't be discovered by her main magic used. She slapped the man until he woke up.

"Just call me Erina, I feel awkward with the honorifics. Now, little guy, tell me where is the prison?"

Under Erina's inquisitive gaze, he immediately showed a door on the eastern side of the quarry. When she thought about it later, maybe it was because of her burning hand getting closer to his intimal area that he talked. Not that it was very important anyway. She smiled to the terrified man, and talked to Jaz'her.

"We can get rid of him now."

Jaz'her slit the man's throat before he had the occasion to cry for help.

As Ekain was watching inside the quarry, he said to Etolmus.

"Hey, Etolmus, can you send something to scout a little? We still don't know how it's inside those caves…"

The druid stopped muttering in his beard and looked around him. He seemed to have spotted something, because he looked intensively in the forest on the other side of the quarry.

"Sure thing, youngling. **[Animal possession]** "

Etolmus closed his eyes, and stopped moving. He was just standing up, one arm holding his wooden staff, the other along his body. As the rest of the team was waiting, Erina guessed that it was normal. Indeed, after a few minutes, a bat came flying and started squeaking around his head. He was nodding, as if everything made sense.

"Most of the caves are just places to stock wooden boxes, I guess some illegal merchandise. The bat couldn't go inside the prison because there's a door. The quarry in itself is abandoned, but there are big rocks lying around and a cart. There are only five sentries outside, but they are far from each other. Theoretically, we should be able to take them out one by one."

The druid opened his eye, and released the control on the bat. While the animal flew back into the night, Ekain talked to the group.

"Folke, you try to take them out from afar. Persis, cast a silence spell if we get detected by only one of them. Jaz'her, do what you can to help Folke and Persis. Etolmus and Erina, follow me, we will follow them once the way is clear."

They all agreed, and went inside the quarry. The first sentry was on the roof of a shack, watching the passageway they were on. It was killed swiftly by a quarrel from Folke. The second one was patrolling with a torch, and when Folke shot him, he happened to be stretching himself, and the change of position made it so the quarrel stuck itself in the sentry's shield. The crossbowman had an alarmed expression on his face, and whispered to the wizard.

"Shit, Persis, your turn!"

"Yeah, **[Silent tongue]**!"

The sentry looked for a moment at his shield with a dumb expression on his face. He realized he was being attacked and tried to call for help, to no avail. He was just silently opening his mouth and waving his arms, just before Jaz'her took the opportunity that he was not watching around him and slit his throat from behind. He gave a thumbs up to the crossbowman-wizard duo, before coming back behind a rock.

The third sentry and fourth sentry were shot cleanly by Folke, but the fifth one was a real problem. He was guarding the door to the prison, but in front of him there was no rocks, no cover. And for Persis to use her silencing spell, she must be able to see the target. She would get spotted instantly, and this would blow up their cover. They hid behind an old, rusty mine cart, and the rest of the party joined them. Etolmus grabbed his staff and said

"Now, watch my "weird magic", as you call it. Especially you, Persis!"

He stood up, still hidden behind the cart, and focused. He closed his eyes. He opened them back suddenly, and chanted

 **[Curse of inconvenience]!**

He sat back, apparently satisfied of himself. They all looked at the sentry. He was scratching himself. A few seconds after, he sneezed, and some more seconds after he tried to put his hairs back in place. Etolmus giggled quietly.

"Hehe, now he will be much more sensitive to every little inconvenience. Your turn, big nose."

Folke shot a bad glance at the old giggling man, before sending a quarrel between the sentry's eyes while he was mid-sneeze.

They approached the door and tried to open it. As it was locked, Jaz'her searched through the sentry's pockets, before finding a key and unlocking the door. On the other side, there was only a straight slim path, lit by torches. The walls were made of bricks, so this place was probably added by the eight fingers once they took the place. There was place only for a single person at the front, so Ekain entered first, shield raised in front of him. They followed him in the empty hallway, only to end up in what looked like a guard's post.

Four bandits and a lizard-like demi-human were playing cards. Both parties looked at each other stupidly for a second, then the demi-human shouted

"TO ARMS!"

He picked a big two-handed mace, just in time to block Ekain's sword strike. They started to fight, while the four other bandits picked their weapons and charged at the rest of the party. They had confidence because the party was composed of three wizards, and two people not suited for the frontline. They confidence quickly crashed when Erina and Persis killed three of them in two spells. The remaining didn't even have time to register what happened before Folke hit him in the head with his heavy crossbow, before ending him with his shorsword.

The demi-human looked to be on even grounds with Ekain, but he was at disadvantage because he didn't know how to use martial arts, and his mace was blocked by the shield each time he attacked. Persis cast a **[magic arrow]** on him. It didn't injure him because he had tough scales, but he lost his balance and fell. Ekain took the opportunity and shoved his sword the bandit's stomach. The lizardman was killed quickly after that crippling injury by Erina casting a **[Firebolt]** right at his head. Panting, Ekain told

"Quickly, we don't have much time. His voice probably echoed in the hallways, and it won't be long until the entire hideout is aware of our presence!"

They nodded and took the key on the table, before running further in the prison. There were some guards, but by chance they were all alone, looks like they didn't expect someone to go this far.

They finally arrived at the cells. The prisoners already heard the combat sounds, they were all asking to be released. Ekain spoke

"What do we do? I believe it's the employer's decision here."

Erina pondered for a moment.

"Release them, we'll be able to escape more easily if they don't focus on us."

Jaz'her took the key and started unlocking the cells. There were at least twenty cells, each packed with five to ten prisoners.

"ERINA!"

One of the prisoners was shouting. Erina turned, and saw Wilhelm. He was covered in bruises, cuts, and was wearing dirty rags.

"WILHELM!"

They ran and hugged each other.

"Wilhelm, I'm really happy to see you, but we don't have time. Where's your equipment?"

"There's a room where they keep the prisoner's stuff. It should be there."

She whispered to him.

"Even if it pains me, we need those prisoners to cause a revolt. Can't you do something about it?"

Wilhelm was someone with a great sense of justice. He sighed. Even if it opposed all his principles, if it was true then escaping from an organization that powerful was an impossible task. Even back in Rida kingdom, there was the Night's Sons. A criminal organization, engraved in the filth of the kingdom, impossible to get rid of.

He prepared himself to speak to them, but was surprised to see that each and everyone of them was already looking for weapons.

Friends, families, business, and all of the things which they hold dear, was destroyed, or taken control of. They could not accept this. They had already lost everything. Given the occasion for vengeance, it was no wonder they wanted to pay back what they suffered at least a hundred time. And they could do it, because they had nothing left to live for.

The few guards not killed by the group were literally beaten to death, stripped of everything that could pierce, slash, or break. When they ran out of weapons, they took the furniture, broke them and used the feet of the chairs as maces. They raided the prison's armory. Every weapon available was taken, and they got out of prison. Here, the alarm had been already rang, and literally a wall of bandits, with some demi-humans mixed between them, was waiting for them. With a furious battle cry, both parties charged at each other. Some of the bandits were fuelled by greed, some by their blood lust, but the former prisoners were attacking like madmen, slashing when they had a spear in their guts, laughing crazily when one of their arms were chopped off, while trying to wield a halberd with a single hand. The bandits, confident at first, started to fear those… _Things_.

* * *

While the prisoners let their frustration rage, the party, now with Wilhelm, went to the armoury. The only chest untouched was one made of steel. From all the marks on it, the prisoners must have tried to open it, and failed. Without a word, Jaz'her took out a lock-picking tool and began his art. A few moments after, he click was heard, and he opened the lid.

Wilhelm took out his armor and started dressing himself in it. Ekain whistled when he saw the quality of the armor, even Etolmus had stopped muttering to look at it. He revised his judgment of Erina and his companion. If he was able to equip himself with it, money musn't have been the problem to pay the ransom. Probably some personal grudge.

When Wilhelm finished, he was not the same in any way. What looked like a dirty prisoner before was now a prideful knight. His armor was shining, and Etolmus and Persis gasped at the same time when they realized.

"Even the armor is enchanted?!"

They could not feel what type of enchantment, but from the mana emitted it wasn't definitely a simple one.

Once outside, the situation wasn't as good as they hoped. The prisoner had the moral advantage, but more and more bandits were coming from the caves on the side.

"Let's fight our way through before there are too much of them!"

After saying that, Ekain activated **[Lesser strength]** and **[Stamina boost]** , before charging in the direction of the exit. Magic buffs were cast to make them quicker, martial arts activated, and the battle began. It was chaos. Mad laughs were coming from everywhere, blood was being splashed on every surface, and the light of the few bandit mages were illuminating the scene with different colors.

Luckily, there was so much chaos nobody really focused on them, only a few lone bandits or small groups of them. They were close to the ramp going out of the quarry, when an imposing voice was heard over the battlefield.

"ENOUGH!"

A wave of cold air was emitted from one of the caves. A man emerged, he was bald, and he had a bright blue robe, a steel staff with a mana crystal on top of it.

"WHO DARE TO ATTACK THE EIGHT FINGERS?!"

Nobody talked. Even the madmen had stopped laughing, their rage replaced by the cold reality.

He looked over the battlefield and smiled when he saw the group of adventurers.

"It looks like you are the ones responsible for this situation. Mmh, interesting…"

He pointed his staff at the group.

 **[Ice bolt]**!

Erina did nothing. The ice bolt was stopped by her mana shield.

"Ah, you are worthy! I will duel you, magician. I, Helicaon Baratte, the mighty frost magician. Oh, and just to be sure, **[Ice wall]**!"

A wall of ice was erected between Erina and the rest of the party.

"ERINA!"

Wilhelm shouted from the other side. He wanted to go help her, but now the bandits were on each sides of the wall, keeping him from going around it. With a smile full of contempt, Helicaon said:

"Kill them, but leave the girl to me. She should be able to give me a proper fight".

* * *

The tension was palpable. Erina didn't move, silently watching Helicaon walking until he deemed he was far enough from her.

Without a word, she started running in his direction.

"Hoho, this is a mage duel, young girl, step back. **[Frost aura]**!"

Immediately, she stopped. From the mana emitted, this was a third-tier spell. Nothing she couldn't block, but using too powerful spells would make her too known if this fight was known to the public, or worse, the eight fingers. The air around the ice mage was frozen. Bodies on the ground affected by the spell were now covered in ice, getting hit by that would hinder her greatly.

'I'll have to limit myself to fourth-tier spells. I'm lucky, I only know fire spells up to that tier'

 **[Heatwave]!**

The snow around her instantly melted from the heat. Helicaon looked at her with an annoyed glance. Hiding his spells in the snow was one of his tactics, and she countered it just like that. Not that it bothered him very much. He was said to be as strong as a platinum adventurer, so taking care of some gold plates should be child's play for him.

 **[Fireball]!**

The fireball flew in his direction, but he activated a mana shield.

 **[Fiery rain]**

A great number of fire bolts came on him from above. His mana shield broke just after blocking the last bolt, he was now worried. He thought that he could take on the mage easily, but her casting speed was greater than his, so he didn't have time to go on the offensive.

 **[Firebolt], [Firebolt], [Fireball]…**

She kept casting, not giving him time to defend himself. He had to jump from side to side to avoid most of the spells, while avoiding a firebolt, he found just the time to cast a **[Blessing of the ice fairy]**.

He could now feel that the heat from the spells was greatly reduced. **[Blessing of the ice fairy]** was a support spell, making him more resistant to fire. Still, it would protect him a little, but at the rate of the spell she was casting, it wouldn't last long. He had no other choice than using his trump card.

He completely stopped avoiding, leaving his defense to the blessing. He focused while the fire bolts were literally raining on him. After a few seconds of suffering, he succeeded and cast **[Frost cannonball].**

A sphere of ice was thrown out of his hands at great speed. It was his signature spell, that he learned inexplicably when opening an old book in a ruin when he was still an adventurer. If one came from another world, he could have read the title in kanji: "Yggdrasyl magic: Fifth-tier Ice Spell Book".

It cost him a half of his mana, but as he wasn't given the occasion to really use it from the beginning of the fight, he still had a lot of it. The ball of ice broke Erina's mana shield. It's velocity was greatly reduced from the impact with the shield, so it only broke her left arm.

Erina was thrown back a few feets. She shouted out of pain, and grinding her teeth from the pain she cast her final spell

 **[Magma flare]!**

A blob of magma was released from her staff. Like hypnotized, Helicaon watched the magma approaching in a slow but fast enough way so that he didn't have time to avoid it. Turning his eyes for the last time, he saw the grin on the woman's face, and understood. He wasn't even a challenge for her. The magma finally reached him, and the unbearable heat made his skin melt, and then his muscles.

His cry of pain only stopped when the magma burned his vocal cords, and his head.

* * *

The bandits looked in horror as the most powerful person in the hideout was literally just a pair of feet, with a black, charred skeleton on top of it. A few seconds passed in absolute silence, before they cried out of terror and ran as fast as they could to the caves.

"NOT SO FAST! **[Maximise magic: triple Electric burst]!** "

Streaks of lightning hit the entrance of the caves and the rocks crumbled, closing the entrances.

They frantically looked for an exit, but the only one left was just behind the crazy mage. They were already horrified, but if it was even possible, they were even more scared when she started chanting again.

 **[By the powers of the souls lost here, I command to the elements! Be the instrument of my rage, and slaughter my enemies!]**

The few surviving bandit mages didn't understand what she was doing. Using magic only required a quick chant, not a long sentence. What they didn't know, was that what she was doing was _not_ magic. Or, to be more precise, it was a different type of magic. A more… _wild_ … type of magic.

A purple wave was released around the crazy mage. It passed right through every bandit and prisoner, and they fell to the ground, like lifeless puppets. There was no explanation to give, they simply ceased to live.

* * *

Behind the ice wall, the purple wave went past the "Steel will" and Wilhelm, but it did nothing. They saw Erina coming back, holding her left arm and grinding her teeth from the pain.

"It's done. We better not stay here, let's go back to the camp. I'll get healed there."

Without waiting for their answer, she walked on the wooden passageway up to the exit. Ekain, Persis, Jaz'her, Folke and Etolmus were looking at the scene with their mouths wide open. What was before a battlefield, filled with blood, frustration and pain, was now as calm as a plain in the cold winter night. No shouts of pain, no cries, only an ethereal silence, and an eerie feeling of being out of place.

That Erina was certainly not someone to trifle with.

* * *

Meanwhile, in someone's throne room. A clear, motherly voice was heard.

"Lord Ainz, I believe something happened. One of our spies in a lowlife's hideout was killed."

A resonant, deep voice answered.

"Killed you say? What happened?"

The voice of the woman was now a wavering one, ready to be punished.

"There is this organization, the eight fingers. We planted spies inside. In one of their hideout, one of them reported to me that a fight broke out between a party of adventurers and the lowlives. I told him to keep an eye on the situation because I didn't saw it as important, but I didn't keep contact with him. Moments later, I felt our connection being cut, and he doesn't answer to my calls anymore… PLEASE, punish me, Lord Ainz! I did an unforgivable fault, please…"

She was now kneeling on the groung, head down and crying.

"Stop it, Albedo. Raise your head."

She raised her head. In his magnificence, the supreme being in front of her took a piece of cloth, and dried her eyes.

"You did nothing. It wasn't your fault, rather, it was mine to order them to avoid fighting at all costs."

"But, Lord Ainz-"

"I said enough! It isn't your fault. We just took care if that man, what was his name again? Khajeyt? Khajut? Anyway, maybe it's a retaliation for this. Or maybe the spy was just unfortunate. Mmh… Send information gatherers. I want to know what happened there."

"Yes! Lord Ainz!"

* * *

 **Hoy there, author here**

 **I don't really have much to say, except that please comment what you think about the story this far.**

 **I still have troubles finding the right wording (is that even an existing word?) sometimes, but with the help of google-sensei I think it's better than the previous chapters.**

 **Also, just in case, I do not own Overlord, and do not intend to obtain any revenue from this.**

 **Well well well, what can I say more? I hope you like what I write, and thanks for the support!**

 **Also, exams are coming up, so the next releases won't be immediate.**

 **Have a nice day, and see you next publication!**


	5. Chapter 5: A look from the other side

A bright flash. A strange floating sensation. The high-pitched sound of the wind at great speed. The hard contact with the ground. The shock of an extreme cold.

That was what Armant Electra felt when his sister finished her teleportation spell. He opened his eyes when he felt something touching his right foot. There, a white rabbit-like creature was sniffing him, and ran away as soon as he moved.

He watched around him. He was in a forest, with big trees. Not big enough to completely cover the sunlight, so he was probably in the outskirt of a forest. It seemed like Lady Luck was with him, because if he fell deeper into it, some more dangerous creature would be already chasing him. The downside of the situation was that the extreme cold made him shiver at each breath.

His crossbow was lying a few feets away from him. Luckily, it was made from expensive materials, so it wasn't broken or damaged. He took it up and looked for a taller tree than the others. If he wanted to know where he was, he needed to find a high point to look at the surroundings. And given that he was in a forest, it was the quickest way to go up.

Finding one was done quickly, and he climbed it with great agility. It might sound weird for royalty, but Armant had always been the sportive type. While his sister indulged herself in the study of magic, he would practice his marksmanship, train with the instructor of the training field, and generally improve his physical condition.

From his position, he could see the trees everywhere around him. The only notable point was a little column of smoke somewhere in the east. Having decided of his direction, he swiftly came back on the ground and marched to the column of smoke.

* * *

The first part of the journey was not really hard. His superior body condition made it easy for him to walk, even in the deep snow covering the ground. After a few hours of walking, he remade his judgment. The journey seemed easy at first, but the snow seemed to suck every ounce of energy he had, tiring and making him sweat. Each step was torturing his legs, making it as if his muscles were on fire, and the occasional cold wind felt like he was stabbed by millions of cold, little knives.

Time felt like it was slowed down, only to make it more painful for him, and the worst of all, the sun was starting to disappear from the horizon. His only source of heat in this white, cold, unforgiving forest was no more, and despair took a hold of him. The shadows seemed to hide monstrosities, the crooked branches, devoid of leaves, were like old fingers, trying to grab him and pull him to some unforgivable hole, the reflection on the moon on the snow covering the ground were like the shining eyes of a creature, hiding in the darkness.

In his clouded vision, he felt more than he saw the danger coming from the goblin appearing from behind a bush, charging him. He held a pointy stick, probably to use it as a spear, and was only wearing a loincloth. His ribs could be seen through his skin, and he was screaming madly in his high-pitched voice. Hunger had probably made him go mad, because even a weak creature such as a goblin was smart enough to avoid a confrontation alone against a stronger creature. Or maybe the goblin felt his demise at the unforgiving hand of nature and decided to take the odds.

However, what Armant felt, was the makeshift spear piercing his right leg, and breaking when the creature tried to take it out. The physical pain made him get realize the danger of the situation, and he punched the goblin. It was surprisingly light and retreated a few steps back, holding the place where he was hit, giving Armant enough time to take out his crossbow from his back. The goblin was pierced by 3 bolts penetrating his chest, and fell dead.

'Pathetic… For me to have such difficulties to fight a single goblin… I need to get to that fire, it's my only chance of survival'

Now that he had a mind clear enough to think, he realized that in addition of the crippling injury and the cold stealing his body heat, he was hungry enough to eat a whole boar.

He caught the wood sticking out of his leg, and pulled it out. Blood dripped out of the wound in great quantity, so he quickly drank a healing potion. The dark pink liquid healed the injury, and he walked to the east with a renewed determination.

* * *

He finally arrived at his destination when he could barely see anything in the dark. There, the fire was still burning, but it was slowly dying. Near it, there was a modest house made out of stone. Light was seeping out from a small window near the entrance.

Praying for a friendly encounter, he knocked at the door. Inside, a sudden noise was heard, as if someone suddenly got up from a chair, and the loud sound of barking. A grumpy voice was heard.

"Who's there? Just to be clear, I have weapons and I won't hesitate to use them!"

Trying to talk in a friendly voice, Armant answered.

"I'm Armant, a traveller. I got lost, and wanted to take shelter for the night here."

"A traveller? Don't try to play games with me, monster! Nobody's coming here in winter, and I won't let a damn dryad or magic bullsh** have my skin!"

His reaction was understandable. Armant had to walk half a day to get there, and during winter the probability of a traveller going in the forest was close to none. But as his situation was desperate, Armant had no choice but to try all the way.

"But I'm human! And not a thief! What can I do to make you believe me?"

A moment of silence past, before the voice talked again, seemingly calmed a little.

"The window is not locked. Open it, and throw your weapons inside, after that, go behind the fireplace, and I'll go out to meet you!"

The conditions were really bad for Armant. If the person inside was not friendly, he would basically be defenceless against the person inside.

"But I have no proof that you're friendly, I can't leave my weapons like that!"

The person snickered inside.

"Not my problem, kiddo. It's my home, and I won't open to someone who came in the night and is armed without being sure that you're not a danger. Either you do this, either you get the hell away!"

Left with no choice, Armant had to do as the man inside said. Slowly, he opened the small window. The barking was now followed by a menacing growl, before a "Shut up, Eiko!" silenced it. He dropped his crossbow inside, and also unbuckled his belt with the shortsword and the knife. However, he kept the bolts, and readied one between his leather armband and his arm, just in case. He dropped his belt inside, before going behind the dying fire.

"All my weapons are inside, and I'm behind the fire!"

A moment passed, before the noise of the door being unlocked was heard. There, a huge, white-bearded man was standing. His short hair was also white. He was wearing green pants, a brown vest and had a fur coat above it. His face was half-occupied by a well-trimmed beard, and the other half showed the old age of the man, but his eyes were still as piercing as if he was twenty. His arms bulging from his muscles were drawing a huge, white bow, probably made from the horn of a big creature. Behind him, a small girl with a light green dress was hiding behind his leg, tightly gripping the pants of the old man. She had a cute face, and short brown hair. Her eyes were wide open from the fear, but also showed a hint of curiosity. In front of him, a huge dog white a mostly black and some brown spots and short fur, muscles bulging, showing his teeth and growling at Armant.

 **(Author: Imagine an adult German shepherd)**

"Who's this, grandpa?"

The old man realized the girl was here, because he looked at her with a surprised expression.

"Go back inside, Rosie, I told you not to come out!"

The brutal tone the man took scared the child, and she ran back inside, shouting.

"Grandpa is mean!"

He focused back on Armant, reassuring his grip on the bow.

"Now, who're you? And what do you want? And remember, If I don't like a single answer, good luck surviving the night…"

Armant gulped. The man looked imposing, he probably wasn't the kind of calm, kind grandparent. Everything from his posture to his way of watching every possible hiding place while keeping in check the man in front of him showed a battle-hardened veteran. The menacing dog didn't help his state of mind. And in his state, Armant wouldn't probably have time to retaliate if something bad happened. He had to choose his words carefully.

"Hello. Like I said, I'm Armant, a traveller. I had to run from a monster too powerful for me, and I lost my way while fleeing. All I'm asking for is a place to spend the night, and tomorrow I'll be leaving for the closest city. Of course, I can pay for my stay."

Armant didn't know if the man would accept a foreign currency, but that would confirm his story of being a traveller.

"What's telling me that you're telling the truth? Or even more, what's telling me that you won't shove a blade up my back once I'm sleeping?"

"Like I said, a warm place to spend the night is all I'm asking for. You can lock me up, take my weapons, just give me a place away from the cold."

A long moment of silence happened. The man was still aiming his bow at Armant, the dog was still growling, and a wolf howl was heard in the distance. The old man looked in the direction of the howl, and he loosened his grip on the bow.

"Come inside. I would feel bad about leaving you outside at night. But make a single step toward your weapons, or even worse to my granddaughter, and you're gonna be wishing you're dead. Am I clear?"

Armant wiped the cold sweat on his face, before nodding and going inside under the dog's and old man's piercing gaze. He couldn't decide if the heavy sound of the thick door closing was his fate being sealed or his life being saved.

* * *

The inside of the house was very cosy. Every piece of furniture was made from wood, except the chimney where a fireplace was heating the atmosphere. Huge red carpets were covering the walls, hiding the stone walls and keeping the warmth inside. A table occupied the place in the middle of the room, curtains were placed to make two makeshift rooms, and various pieces of furniture took the rest of the place. The little girl was peeking at Armant from behind one of the curtain, and immediately closed it when she saw he noticed her.

The old man took out his fur coat, hanging it near the door, and put the bow on a shelf. While he did this, Armant stayed up, fidgeting, not really knowing what to do. The dog stopped growling, seeming to have accepted it's master's decision.

"Come, sit at our table. We were about to eat dinner."

Armant finally noticed that there were two bowls filled with an orange soup on the table. The old man took out another bowl from a shelf, filled it with soup boiling on the fire, and put it on the table too. The dog, Eiko, started eating from a bowl near the chimney.

His stomach growled, reminding him of how hungry he was, so he sat as well. Rosie came and started to eat her soup, sending some curious and shy looks from time to time. Nobody talked while they ate, so Armant took his bowl and ate as well. The soup had a creamy, salty taste and its warmth invaded his frozen body. Each gulp gave him back life, and he started to eat faster and faster.

"Easy, boy, eating too much after having been too hungry will make your stomach ache."

When they all finished their bowls, the old man got comfortable on his chair and took a pipe. He was about to lit it when he saw Rosie, the little girl, and put back the pipe on the table.

"Now, young man, I believe it is time for presentations. I'm Albert Leimann. The young girl here is Rose Leimann, my granddaughter. The dog's name is Eiko. And you are Armant. Let's be honest, I will ask some questions, I think you know why I want to know a little better someone who will sleep in my home. Rosie, can you bring grandma's mirror?"

"Yes!"

Albert gave Rose a key he got from a pocket on his pants, and the girl walked up to a cabinet, and unlocked it with the key. She took out a small mirror, with engravings on the side. Albert grabbed the mirror, wiped it clean with a piece of cloth and placed it flat on the table.

"Are you really a traveller?"

Armant looked at him with a curious expression, before answering "Yes". The mirror turned dark. Albert instantly grabbed a huge knife from the table and pointed it at Armant, who quickly put his hands up in the air and told quickly:

"But it's true that I come from afar and all I'm looking for is a shelter for the night!"

The old man looked at the mirror with a suspicious expression. Seeing that it stayed clear, he put back the knife on the table. Very close to his hands, noted Armant. The mirror was probably enchanted with a lie-detecting enchantment. Albert looked at the mirror again for a while, before talking again.

"This magic item was never deceived by a lie, so you're telling the truth. Or you're an undercover powerful mage, but I doubt you would want to do something to me or Rose. No gain to do so. Now, you said you wanted to leave tomorrow, sorry but you won't be able to. There's a snow storm coming in the next days, and you made it just in time I think. Listen outside."

Focusing his hearing on the window, he could indeed hear the sound of the wind, banging furiously against the window, breaking branches in the forest.

"Don't worry, the house is made of solid rock, it won't falter. And even during a snowstorm, bandits and monsters are smart enough to stay in their dens. Now, from what I see, you must be an adventurer?"

Armant didn't know it yet, but the term of "adventurer" was not the same in this place of the world than in Rida kingdom. Here, an adventurer was basically a mercenary paid to kill monsters. Back in Rida kingdom, the monsters were dealt by the Knighthood of the Stargazers. "Adventurers" are just a name some mercenary groups who specialize in bringing back relics from the sanctuaries take. Therefore, adventurers are much more respected back there, telling their "adventures" to bards to have more renown.

Taking a guess, he answered positively.

"Yes, I'm an adventurer. My group was dissolved a few weeks ago so I went on the road to find something to do."

"Mmh? Where's your plate, kid?"

Being called kid unsettled him a little, but it was true that 16 years ago was a young age. A "plate" was probably something adventurers wear to be recognized.

"I threw it away. My plate was me symbol of bonding with my comrades, so I didn't want to wear something that would reattach me to them…"

Albert raised a brow.

"Really now? You must work on your story, boy. The mirror became dark as soon as you started talking…"

Instantly, Armant could feel cold sweat on his back. He had totally forgot about the mirror, blowing away all of his story.

"Tell me right now, that you don't want to steal, or harm me, my family or my belongings. I think you know what will happen if the mirror turns dark. And just to be clear, I'm a former orichalcum adventurer, so taking care of you won't be a problem at all…"

"I don't want in any way to steal or harm you, your family or your belongings. I have things I have to hide, but I can swear on my life I never harboured ill intentions toward you or your family."

Seeing that the mirror stayed clear, Albert smiled.

"Welcome, kid. For a few days, at least, you'll live with us. Your equipment is in this chest behind you. Rosie, help me prepare the couch so Armant can sleep in."

"Yes grandpa!"

The old man and the little girl rose up, and they prepared the couch. This was already a valuable experience for Armant. Being the heir to the throne, he always lived in luxury. Seeing how common people lived would give him better insight when thinking about solutions if such problems may arise.

As it was getting late, Armant said goodnight to both of them, before undressing when they got to their beds and lying on the couch. Even in his furthest memories, it was probably the first time for him a simple couch was this comfortable.

* * *

The next morning was very tough. Armant could barely move his legs, his muscles still in pain from yesterday's march. He could hear the wind still banging violently against the window. It seemed Albert and Rose were still sleeping, because apart from the wind howling, there was no sound. With great difficulty, he rose and dressed up. He only wore his casual clothes, after all it was most likely he would have to stay inside for a least a few days. Eiko was lying on the floor, but he noticed the dog kept looking at him, as if he was monitored.

Indeed, when he walked to the window, the ground and trees were covered in snow, deep enough to gobble his feets if he was to walk in it, and the snow kept falling from the huge, grey menacing clouds.

Yawning, Albert came out of his bedroom. He said hello to Armant before starting to prepare the breakfast. The day was spent rather lazily, discussing with Albert about his adventures, playing card or a chess-like game, "The fall of the king". It was a very simple game at first, but as Armant lost over and over, he started to appreciate the intricacy of the strategies Albert showed. While they played, Rose was playing with a doll near them, drawing with a piece of charcoal on parchment, playing with Eiko, etc…

They had to stay inside for five days, as the snow storm was raging outside. Albert having lived alone for a long time alone, he was experienced enough to make it so they didn't run out of provisions, or firewood.

On the fifth day, Armant realized it wasn't snowing anymore and dressed quickly before blasting the door open and running outside. Well, he didn't run far because he was waist-high deep in snow. At least, the sun was bright. It took five more days before the snow melted enough to be able to walk in it. On that day, as Albert was taking his bow and arrows, Armant got curious.

"You said you aren't an adventurer anymore, does that mean you're a hunter now?"

"Yes, kid. I hunt game, sometimes monsters, and sell the fur and meat. The meat doesn't give much, but I have a little stockpile of gold coins from the fur trade, so I'm thinking of moving to E-rantel in a few months so Rosie can make friends. Her parents… Left… a year ago so I think she mourned enough for now, right Rosie?"

Albert still called him "kid" even after Armant repeatedly said what was his name. In the end, he abandoned and left it as it was.

Rosie had a bright smile on her face as she was imagining how living in a big city would be.

"Yes grandpa! I love you so much!"

The old veteran had a little smile on his face.

"Yes, I love you too, Rosie. But stay near the house, right? I will hunt for the day, so I will come back when the sun comes down. Eiko, come!"

The dog was already standing near the old man, and started to follow him. Armant didn't want to leave the little family nothing after all the hospitality they showed.

"Can I go hunt with you? I'm pretty good with my crossbow. Think if it as a way to thank you for your hospitality."

Albert had an incredulous face.

"You? Help me? Well, try not to slow me down, kid"

He grabbed his crossbow and went after Albert who was already walking to the woods, while Eiko was already sniffing the ground ahead.

* * *

While walking in the woods, he realized how lucky he got when finding the Leimann household. He couldn't even find the rest of the fireplace or the direction he came from. Following the old man and the dog, he tried to do as little sound as he could, clumsily avoiding fallen branches, or bumping into Eiko when she came running.

Armant was wearing his usual attire, deep blue and black clothes, under a simple leather armor covering his chest and arms. Albert was wearing his white fur coat over a simple brown vest and dark green pants. The coat's hood covered the old man's head. The coat made it so that seen from the right angle, Albert was literally invisible as he was wearing a long white coat over the white snowy background.

The clumsy was Armant was walking was almost ridiculous compared to Albert's graceful walk. It was as if he was sliding on the ground, despite his size and weight.

They didn't peep a single word, trying to perceive some game. They walked for a few hours, trying to see something, but it was as if the storm had made the forest devoid of all life. They halted suddenly when Eiko stopped sniffing the ground, pointing in front of them with her muzzle.

Armant looked in front of him, but he could see nothing except the snow covering the ground and the trees. The old man pointed left of a rock, showing Armant where to look.

There, a huge beast, standing on two legs was feasting on what seemed like a bear's corpse.

Immediately, Albert crouched, and Armant quickly followed his example, while Eiko simply laid on the ground, silently watching it.

It looked like a duck. An enormous, white-feathered duck, except it had a beak capable of breaking even rock, and a brown beak, and black horns, and chicken-like feets with vicious looking claws at the end. It was at least two meters tall. Albert whispered.

"That's a Snow leaper. He's jumping at his preys with the enormous leg power he has, and impale them with his horns. The horns are very hard, so it is a good material for weapons, we should be able to gain a little fortune from this. If he jumps at you, just roll to the side, it's the best way to avoid it. Also, it's leather is very tough. Really a little goldmine. Usually I'm lucky if I manage to hunt one of those per year. If we kill this one without damaging it too much, I'll be able to buy food for the rest of the season… Start shooting only when the fight begins, right?"

"Right."

"Don't move."

Albert showed again his great skills in moving quickly, and silently. He walked up to a tree, took his bow out and knocked an arrow. The well-maintained string didn't make a single sound. Armant could hear him whisper, the old man was probably activating martial arts. Doing the same, Armant activated **[Eagle eye], [Steady mind]** and **[Greater agility boost]**. He could have activated more, but it would tire him before the fight begins.

Albert shot his arrow, but the beast showed its intuition and tried to avoid instinctively, but the old man was someone of experience. The arrow missed the beast's ankle, but lodged itself in its leg. The beast leaked out an ear-piercing cry, looking for its enemies. Seeing Albert, it jumped at him, trying to impale him. Albert rolled to the side, and the beast fell on a tree, deeply impaling it. In a single powerful head nod, it broke the tree in half and freed its horns, demonstrating its enormous power. The old man tried to knock another arrow, but the beast attacked him with a powerful claw swipe, forcing him to roll back again.

The beast facing Albert, Armant behind it shot two bolts. One missed, but the other further crippled the already injured leg. Armant didn't have time to shoot another time as the beast had already pounced at him. Following the old man's advice, he rolled to the side, feeling the creature's claws missing his hair by a few centimetres.

"Roll again!"

The old man's shout reached his hears, and Armant didn't bother to look as he rolled a second time.

This time, he missed death only thanks to his immediate reaction. He heard the horns missing him, but the beast successfully waved its claws at him, sending him flying on the side for a good ten metres.

Albert shot another arrow, finally injuring the beast's other leg. The duck-like monster cried out of pain, and tried to pounce at Albert, but it lost its balance and awkwardly missed by a large margin, impaling its horn again in a tree. It tried to free itself, but the injuries started to take their tolls, and it couldn't exert as much power as before. Albert dropped his bow, took out a hunting knife and jumped on the beasts legs, furiously stabbing them. Eiko also jumped on the beast and joined the old man's effort in crippling it.

While the beast was immobilized and was trying to free its head, Armant stood up and raised his crossbow. The skull was likely thicker than the rest of the skeleton, so he needed more piercing bolts. He unloaded the magazine already on the crossbow, and took another magazine from his belt. These ones, instead of the casual triangle-pointed bolt, were sharp-pointed and made of steel. Once he loaded the crossbow, he took his time to aim. Seeing its impending doom coming, the creature tried a last struggle, but it was pointless. Two bolts were shot, and two bolts impaled the beast's head.

* * *

Armant waited for a minute, panting. Once he took his breath back, he checked his armor. It seemed simple at first, but it was made from dragon leather. On the surface, the polished leather only had a thin trace where the claw hit. But even if the armor protected him, he was still in pain from the shock of the impact.

"Are you alright, boy?"

Albert was panting too, sitting on the ground and petting Eiko to reassure her. Armant raised his thumb.

"What do we do now?"

The old man didn't answer. Instead, he knelt near the beast's body, lowered his head and stayed silent. After a minute or so, he raised his head, grabbed his hunting knife and started to cut the flesh around the horns.

"Always respect your preys. It was a fight to death, so you must honor the spirit of the prey for the fight it gave. Now, help me, we still need to dislodge the horns and to skin the beast. It will take some time and I don't want to get back home too late, Rosie will get worried.

They got to work quickly. The horns were quickly dislodge because the beast had already made them loose when trying to free itself. The skinning took much more time, they had to eat the rations they brought with them when noon came.

Thanks to Albert's expertise, the finished to skin the beast in two more hours. What was left of the beast was only a red gory mass, blood covering the snow in a large area. Their loot was pretty heavy, so the way back home was a little longer than first. A pack of wolves tried to ambush them, but Eiko barked furiously, taking away the element of surprise. The two men, both expert marksmen, quickly shot to the head two or three wolves, including the alpha male, making the pack run away.

When they got to the house, the sun was already setting down. They quickly hung the pelt to dry during the night inside a shack on the side, while Rose was playing with Eiko, throwing a stick.

While they ate dinner, they talked about tomorrow.

"We'll leave tomorrow morning. If the sky stays clear, we should be able to get to E-rantel in two days. You're pretty talented with that crossbow, so you should be able to find some work easily in the adventurer's guild. If you want, I can write you an introduction letter. I'm not an adventurer anymore, but the staff there know me, so I think they will take it into account."

"What about Rose?"

The little girl was quietly munching on her vegetables, making a disgusted expression when she discovered a broccoli and carefully put it on the side of her plate.

"She will come with us. There's no way I can leave her alone, right Rosie?"

She made a bright smile.

"Yay! I will play with Sarah! I wonder if she got a new doll..."

Albert chuckled, seeing his granddaughter getting excited over something so simple.

"Sarah's the daughter of a friend of mine, we were in the same group. She settled down in E-rantel when we decided that adventurer was a too risky job. I wonder how she's going…"

The rest of the night was only small talk and preparations for the upcoming travel. They had to prepare a lot of things. Tents, rations, Albert and Armant also had to go out to check if the sledge bought by Albert was in good conditions.

* * *

The next morning, when everybody got ready, it was as if they prepared for along expedition. Albert wore his usual white fur coat, Rose was wearing a smaller brown version of the same coat, with a big ushanka covering her head, and Albert lent a simple leather coat to Armant, not as effective as fur, but still better than nothing. The sledge was mostly filled with the huge pelt and the tent, and some covers, food and a small barrel of water.

A little chest was inside the pelt, hiding the horns and the mirror Albert used to detect Armant's lies. Apparently, Albert's mother was an adventurer too, and this mirror was something she found in a lich's lair, when her party killed it. It was a **[Crystal clear mirror]**. The old man's bow was secured on the flank of the sled, while Armant secured his crossbow as usual on his back.

Rose stayed most of the time sitting on the pelt, sometimes walking when she got bored, while Armant and Albert pulled the sled through the snowy forest.

Maybe it was the size of the sled giving the impression of a big creature, maybe it was luck, maybe it was because there wasn't much life in winter, but they didn't get attacked on the first day. When the sun set down, they installed the tent behind a boulder to avoid the cold night breeze.

Armant realized again how lucky he was to find help, because he couldn't orientate himself at all. For him, the white forest was like a labyrinth, and Albert was the guide, turning after that boulder, avoiding a hill (which he learnt after was a den of goblins) and never hesitating in the direction to take.

The next day of travelling was much easier. They finally reached a road, and only had to follow it to get to E-rantel. Maybe it was the excitation of finally seeing civilization making them faster, but they arrived sooner than expected and the sun was still high in the sky.

The queue to enter the city was short, after all there weren't much travellers in winter.

The guards, freezing and sneezing, barely looked at the sled, before giving them to authorisation to go in.

They still had time before sunset, so they first looked for Albert's friend's house. Once they found it, Albert knocked at the door, and when an old woman opened it, Rose didn't even wait before running inside the house, shouting "Sarah!"

"Hermel, it's been a long time! How are you?"

"Hehe, you old punk, it's nice to see you're doing fine!"

They hugged each other, before Albert reverted his attention to Armant.

"Armant, here's Hermelinda Straub. Hermel, here's Armant, a person I met a few days ago."

He simply waved at the woman, and she did the same.

"I didn't expect someone to be able to tickle the sensible cord of the ole' Albert!"

They discussed for a while, before Armant excused himself. He still had to find his sister, and the longer he waited, the more his worries about her well-being grew.

"Wait a second, Armant."

Albert took the little chest, and him gave a Snow leaper's horn.

"You helped me a lot with that hunt. I hope I'll see you soon!"

Armant said goodbye, and left for the adventurer's guild. Apparently, it was the best place to start searching for Erina. But first, he sold the horn to a weaponsmith, gaining a solid five gold coins. It wasn't much to his standards, but it would permit him to live a good life for at least a month.

However, on his way to the adventurer's guild. He noticed something. Or rather, it would be righter to say it would be weird not to notice it. In front of him, a duo of people was walking. One was the most beautiful woman he ever saw. She had long, black silky hair, a rather expressionless face, but astoundingly perfect. Everything, from the size of her eyes to the curve of her cheeks, was perfect. She was wearing simple travelling clothes, and a brown cape on top of it. It took him quite some time to close his gaping mouth and get back to his senses to notice the warrior walking alongside her. A tall, armored man, two blades in the back. The armor was the most prestigious armor he ever saw. Even the armor his father wore to battle was as not as beautiful as this one.

This one simply allied prestige with practicity, it was simply breathtaking. A dark-shaded armor, with golden lining, the picture of a castle wall came to his mind. Impregnable, indestructible, protecting the life of innocent people. He was probably a family member of the highest commanding class of the country.

While checking them out, he also noticed something else. Beside the fact that she seemed perfect, the woman was wearing a brooch in her hair. A brooch in the shape of a white flower. Very like the symbol of royalty each member of the Electra family had to wear. They could choose, and only the royalty and some high-placed nobles knew about it, because it was in fact a proof of identification, and a powerful protective artefact. His sister chose the symbol of the flower, to represent the blooming of the knowledge she wished to give to the country. Armant, on the other side, chose a bracelet, representing the power his people would give his arm to do his duty as a king.

And they were told to never, never let go of it. Armant just had to be sure, but he didn't know how to react if something happened to her.

Preparing himself, he straightened his will, brushed off the inexistent dust on his pauldron, cleared his voice.

"Excuse me, are you adventurers?..."

* * *

 **Hello there, author here,**

 **I managed to squeeze this chapter between my exams.**

 **As usual, I hope you like it, and don't hesitate to write what you think about the story so far, or if you have any questions.**

 **See you next publication!**


	6. Intermission: the fate's crossing

Ainz was more bothered than furious. Despite Albedo just saying that one of his npc's got killed, the Undead impersonator was an undead he could summon back anytime. Back in Yggdrasyl, Undead impersonators were summons used for stealth missions. They could take the shape of another monster for ten minutes. When the update with the undead impersonators came, many guilds tried to use them to spy enemy guilds, but they quickly dropped the idea when someone noticed they could dispel the illusion with any fifth-tier or higher light spell. Being only a lvl.60 monster, they were forgotten. Ainz remembered them only when Demiurge asked him for undercover troops to gather intelligence about the world they were in.

What was interesting thought, was that for their level, they were basically impossible to kill by humans of this world with simple raw power, be it magical or physical. So for one of them to die, during a fight with human adventurers, mean that someone more powerful than the average human came. And for a human to be able to kill an undead impersonator, the probability of being a normal adventurer was very low.

As he was thinking, Ainz gradually became excited. Maybe a player, not yet lvl.100, came to this world too. Maybe even one of his guildmates. Maybe Ulbert Alain Odle, his sorcerer friend under the disguise of a human came too, or simply another player he didn't know.

All the guild's npc loved him unconditionally, that was certain, but he had no one to talk to like a friend. Knowing that someone came from the same world as his would certainly relieve him.

But as he thought, Ainz started to calm himself. There was also the possibility that the player was hostile, and the fact that he could expose what he considered his guildmate's children, the floor guardians, to danger made him think rationally.

"Albedo!"

"Yes, lord Ainz?"

Albedo, still kneeling in front of him, raised her head.

"Send a group to investigate this hideout. It is possible that players are involved, maybe someone who stayed like I did. However, only send disposable troops. If the enemy is too strong, I don't want to endanger any of you. Just a moment…"

Ainz took a moment to check his spell list mentally. Once he found what he was searching for, he got up from the throne.

"Come with me, I will summon the undead to do the information gathering."

"Understood."

Albedo rose from the ground and followed her beloved into Nazarick's halls.

* * *

Demiurge's place was more like a prison than a proper room. He had a room, simply decorated, to rest, but it probably was never used. The rest of his personal area was a prison, with people sobbing in corners, other mad from the torture, and some others simply laying on the ground of their cells.

When Ainz entered, Demiurge immediately stopped writing the report he was working on. He had to find a stable supply of scroll parchment for Nazarick, but the arrival of his master, a supreme being, took priority over whatever task he was doing at the moment. He kneeled on the ground.

"How may I help you, Lord Ainz?"

"Raise your head, Demiurge. I need a body to summon an undead. I believe you have… _expendables_ , right?"

Raising his head, the demon answered. Albedo seemed satisfied of his behavior.

"Of course, Lord Ainz. Humans are weak, but I do not discriminate on the people joining my experiments…"

Indeed, not only humans were detained. There were some semi-humans, cherubims, ogres, various large animals, and even an angel, with her wings cut off. Even a slime, blocked in a magic field, was there. One could ask how could you torture a slime, or even if they felt pain, but being the second most skilled in torturing after Neuronist Painkill, Demiurge was able to do so. They even took their time together sometimes to discuss about it.

"The shape of the living creature does not matter. The undead should change the shape of the base organism to form, like in Carne village…"

Demiurge pondered for a moment.

"Would the body of a Merman be alright, lord?"

"Yes it should. Bring me to it."

Once in front of the body, Ainz put his bony hand above the corpse.

 **[Raise undead: Death Inquisitor]**

The death inquisitor was a peculiar undead, because it fell under the faction of justice. Supposedly a judge, dead without resolving a case and a strong sense of justice.

A black, tar-like substance covered the body. It raised, and the substance cleared itself, revealing an… _out of place_ , monster. The skeleton was wearing a classy, black suit over a white shirt, black pants and shoes, a black top-hat and a monocle holding onto an nonexistent nose. The skeleton was holding a classy walking stick. Overall, it gave the impression of a British gentleman of the 20th century, from the industrial revolution. It knelt in front of Ainz.

"I am thy humble servant. What is thy wish, mine master?"

The skeleton had a very posh voice, and his vocabulary reflected his character.

"You will have to investigate a place where a slaughter took place. Find out what happened. And before, follow Albedo's orders until she finds a bodyguard for you."

"Aye, mine master! I wilt doth as thee command!"

Ainz left without a word, returning to the throne room. Demiurge and Albedo looked at their master leaving, with a sigh of regret, while the skeleton rose from his position and looked at Albedo.

"shalt we doth as master Ainz commanded, Lady Albedo?"

* * *

The skeleton was given a vampire bride from Shalltear as a bodyguard. She was reticent at first, but when Albedo told her it was Ainz's order, she immediately ordered to one of the brides following her to follow the inquisitor's orders.

Even for Albedo, commanding this skeleton with a strange personality was not easy. On one hand, he was a lowly reanimated undead, on the other hand, he was created by Ainz, the master of the tomb of Nazarick. She decided to treat it as a servant, but talking politely to avoid angering her master.

"There is a low-lives city named E-rantel not far from there. North of it, there is a hideout in the forest where we planted our spy. He died despite being an upper level, and we don't know what happened. Use your skills to discover it."

"Low-lives?"

She practically spat the word.

"Humans."

"Oh, aye. I wilt doth as thee command, lady Albedo."

Having received his orders and his escort, the skeleton walked out of the tomb and set forward to his objective.

The vampire bride following him, they walked for three days and nights, using the vampire's illusion magic when meeting travelers, and avoiding villages. The weather was hardly a problem for them, both being of high-level and undead.

Once they arrived, the undead spiral had already started, without someone to bury properly the dead. A few zombies were already walking the place. When they walked down the wooden ramp, the undead didn't react, as neither the vampire or the skeleton was alive.

"Is thither something alive hither, vampire?"

The unnamed vampire bride looked around the place, activating **[Detect life].** As there was no response to her skill, she answered simply "No." She didn't really know how to handle the skeleton for the same reasons as Albedo, so she resolved the problem by talking the less she could to him.

"forsooth mine skills wilt beest necessary then. standeth aside." _(It seems my skills will be necessary then. Stand aside.)_

 **[Power of law: Eye of the detective]**

From the outside, nothing changed. On the skeleton's side, his sight changed. Everything became black and white, with possible clues standing out, outlined in a flashy yellow.

First, everything was yellow. Indeed, the clues showing that there was a massacre were numerous, so he restricted the skills to "every clue except the ones including the base fighters". Now, only the bodies and weapons of the officers and those in command were outlined. He noticed a body, with only a charred top skeleton and decaying legs.

Walking up to the carcass, he placed one finger on the skeleton's skull.

 **[Power of law: Shadow of the past]**

Now in the memories of the last moments of the victim, he saw what happened from the ice mage's point of view. He was supervising a drug shipment, when he an underling told him that they were attacked. The fight didn't last long, but from what the skeleton knew, his opponent, the female mage, was someone pretty strong compared to the standards of this world. The victim died at that moment, so he didn't know what happened after.

Looking at the sides of the abandoned quarry, the boulders simply couldn't be natural. Most likely they were made to cover an entrance. Looking for more clues, he found the jail and found some clues as well. The adventuring party freed someone, and used the escaping prisoners as a cover to run away. As he was about to use his powers on the guards, the vampire bride beside him suddenly watched in the direction of the exit.

"Alive persons detected. My **[Detect life]** is sensing about ten people entering the quarry. What do we do?"

"We wend and meeteth those folk of course. those gents might has't some information's."

Walking to the exit, the skeleton hummed a merry song in rhythm to his cane hitting the ground.

* * *

Outside, a group of people was dispatching the few undead who woke up. It was a very mismatched group. One of them was fat. Very fat, with purple and gold clothes, another was a small racoon-like semi-human, wearing a green robe and a wooden staff. Probably a magic caster. The others were a mix between armed civilians and dangerous-looking thugs with crude weaponry. One of them noticed the skeleton and the vampire coming out of the prison.

"Shit! A lich? Boss, what do we do?"

The fat man looked annoyed as he dried a drop of sweat on his neck.

"Do you need me to hold your damn hand? Just kill them and be done with it."

The semi-human chanted **[Reinforce magic resistance]** while the others were already eying the cane with a golden knob, estimating the price.

To much of their surprise, the skeleton took his top hat and bowed before them.

"Now, now, we don't needeth to resort to violence. if 't be true thee impart me with what thee knoweth, according to the law codex, chapter twelve, paragraph thirty-two, thy sentence wilt beest lightened. And don't compare me to a lowly lich." _(Now, now, we don't need to resort to violence. If you impart me with what you know, according to the law codex, chapter twelve, paragraph thirty-two, your sentence will be lightened. And don't compare me to a lowly lich.)_

"What?"

None of them could understand the intricate language the skeleton was using, except the last part.

"A pity we can't understand him. We could have come to an agreement, but to hell with it. He's just a skeleton with fancy clothing, kill him already."

Despite their hatred of being led by such a fat and weak person, they had no choice but to obey him. They calmly walked to the skeleton, with little awareness, while the magic caster prepared a fireball.

"All thee wilt sayeth wilt beest held against thee in court. alloweth the judgment beginneth." _(All you say will be held against you in court. Let the judgement begin.)_

 **[Power of law: judgment]**

A red cross appeared above their heads. For the first time, the fat man looked worried.

"Hey, you there, you're a wizard, right? What's this?"

The raccoon-like person answered in an equally trembling voice.

"How am I supposed to know? That's not even magic, there's no mana flux!"

"Do something! You all, kill it quickly!"

He was really worried, and started to run slowly toward the exit, his belly flopping and jumping in a comical way?. While they panicked, the skeleton mumbled.

"Corruption, armed assault toward an innocent person, physical and verbal assault toward a member of the justice corp, resistance to arrest… thy sentence wilt beest heavy, scoundrel. **[Power of law: ethereal court]** "

Chains came from the ground, literally breaking the stone the quarry was made of, and restricted the bandits. The skeleton invaded their minds, seeing every crime they did. It only happened in the span of a few seconds, the bandits had yet to understand what was happening.

"The court hath witnessed thy crimes, and hath decided of a judgment."

 **[Power of law: Death sentence]**

The skeleton hit the ground with his cane, and invisible ropes hang the bandits in the air, strangling them. They tried to grab the ropes, to no avail, before they stopped squirming and dropped dead to the ground. Even when they died, they were useless. When the skeleton tried to watch their last memories, he realized they were as clueless as he was about what happened.

However, something else happened. The skeleton felt a critical success on his "eye of the detective" skill, and a little trinket he didn't notice before flashed in his sight. Walking up to it, he found a trinket in the form of a white flower, made from precious metal and white and transparent gems. From its shape, it was probably a hair pin. Seeing that there was no noble women lying on the ground, or devouring the corpse of the dead bandits, he could only conclude that this was probably the stolen property of a bandit. Performing a fifth-tier appraisal spell on the trinket, he found out it was enchanted with a seventh-tier protection spell against magical and physical damage. For this world, the seventh tier was something never achieved by humanoid means, and mere bandits wouldn't be able to take out someone powerful enough to get an item with seventh-tier protection, so it was certainly one of the adventurer's property.

He searched the place for a few more hours, but as he couldn't find more clues, he had no choice but to come back to report to Ainz.

* * *

"…And that concludes mine report, mine lord. My most humble apology, I couldn't findeth out what hath happened more precisely. "

In the throne room, kneeling in front of Ainz, the death inquisitor finished reporting the result of his research, handing a luxurious hair pin in his open palms. Ainz had asked Demiurge, Albedo, Shalltear and Narberal to listen to the report, hoping that one of them could find a new idea from the skeleton's report. But as usual, Demiurge kept his little smile of contempt, Albedo and Shalltear kept a calm behavior in front of their master and Narberal her poker face.

From the report, Ainz could deduce that a stronger being than usual came. However, when he heard that the hair pin was enchanted with only seventh-tier magic, his expectations for a guild mate appearing disappeared. All of his guild mates were the highest level someone on Yggdrasil could have, lvl.100. Taking the trinket, he looked at it closely, hoping to find something unusual, but sadly the death inquisitor was right in his report. It was only a beautiful piece of jewellery.

"Narberal, come here."

Narberal walked up to the throne from her position on the side, and knelt.

"Yes, my Lord?"

Ainz handed her the hair pin.

"While we travel as adventurers, you will use this. While I do not doubt your ability to defend yourself, even if someone discover its power, it would suit someone as powerful as the beautiful princess Nabe, and it will give you a sufficient protection."

"Understood."

Narberal took the piece of jewellery and put in in the front pocket of her maid dress. As Ainz was about to stand up, Shalltear spoke up.

"Lord Ainz, shouldn't we just give Narberal a protection item with a hidden enchantment?"

"Kukuku… Surely you wouldn't think the great plan Lord Ainz came with is so simple, shalltear?"

Demiurge kept his little smile, explaining to Shalltear, while Ainz was mentally screaming.

' _Damn you Demiurge! That's all I thought of! I'm not some kind of schemer!"_

"What? But…"

Incomprehension could be read on Shalltear's face, as she was doing her best to understand the intricacy of her master's plan.

"Demiurge. Explain to the others what you understood. Even if you all should strive for understanding by yourself, a dent in my plan would be off-putting…"

"Yes, Lord Ainz. Even if I can't even come close to understanding a fraction of your plan, I'm glad I could understand this little part. Narberal will be wearing the protection item. In this world, seventh-tier magic is god-like, so it's highly likely that the person who lost this will look for it. They will quickly find it, Momon the black and the Beautiful princess Nabe have a high popularity in this town after all, so people will notice that jewellery very fast. They will try to steal it, or they will contact Darkness. In both case, we can find the person behind it. Be it a supreme being or an anomaly in this world, both are interesting to contact. That's pretty much all I understood, but I can't fathom how far in time this plan was devised… "

' _Hmmmm, I'm so lucky Ulbert created you the way you are, Demiurge!'_

"You are right, Demiurge. Shalltear, I have other plans for you, so do not worry. Narberal, get dressed as Nabe, we will go adventuring for a while."

"Yes, my Lord!"

They all responded in unison, and Ainz left the throne room.

* * *

In the town of E-rantel, two famous adventurers came back. They were not adamantite adventurers yet, but they received the mythril plate in the recent Zuranon incident. A lot of people said they deserved at least orichalcum, or even adamantite plate, but the adventurer's guild had strict rules. Riding on the famous Wise King of the Forest, followed by the beautiful princess Nabe, her fan group had already noticed the new item she was wearing, and spread the news. Some said it was a powerful relic, able to wipe out an entire city in a single use, others said it was a simple piece of jewellery, adding to her already astounding beauty.

Momon was walking toward the Shining Golden Pavilion, the place he was supposed to rest when not adventuring. Having arrived at their destination, they left Hamsuke in it's personal stable at the inn, and walked toward the entrance. However, they heard a voice.

"Excuse me, are you adventurers?..."

' _Lucky! I didn't expect the bait to get caught this quickly!'_

Momon turned back, facing the man who asked the question. He seemed to be an adventurer, but he wasn't wearing a plate. There, a young man wearing a leather armor stood, fidgeting in place. The armor seemed simple, but the experienced eyes of the VRMMORPG player Momonga were not mistaken. What he was wearing was in fact dragon leather, camouflaged as normal leather. He had blond hair, a face with sharp features, blue eyes, a crossbow on his back and a short sword at his waist. Mana was literally leaking from all his enchanted equipment.

Nabe had already put her hand on the hilt of her sword, when Momon stopped her.

"Indeed. I am Momon, and she is Nabe, my partner. We are "Darkness". Do you have some kind of business with us?"

He cleared his voice once again.

"Yes, indeed. Could we talk inside?"

* * *

 **Hello there, author here.  
**

 **Sorry for the long wait. University, end of the school year and final exams didn't really leave me much time, so I couldn't focus on writing.**

 **Now, the two stories are crossing. Just to be clear on the timeline, it's between the defeat of Clementine and Khajiit, and the news about Shalltear's betrayal from Albedo.**

 **As usual, I hope you like what you read. Next chapter should come sooner (I still have a few exams, but the majority are done). Ask the questions in the comments if you have some, i'd be glad to answer them.**

 **See you next publication!**


	7. Chapter 6: A healthy family activity

**A little reminder because it's been a long time: Armand just came back to E-rantel, and found Momon and Nabe walking in front of him. Nabe is wearing a piece of jewellery very similar to what Erina has been wearing.**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

The Shining Golden Pavillion was a luxury inn, but it was well deserved. The entrance was made of marble, the wooden furniture was polished, the scarlet rug was soft under the boots, and the service was spontaneous and impeccable.

Once Armant, Momon and Nabe entered, the well-tailored receptionist immediately reacted.

"Hello, Sir Momon and Lady Nabe, and Sir…?"

"Armant. Simple call me Armant."

"Sir Armant it is. Will you stay?"

Momon raised his hand to cut Armant.

"We have business. I assume we can use a private room?"

"But of course, Sir Momon."

He opened a drawer, took out a key and gave it to a nearby groom.

"Open them room 14."

"Yes, sir. Will you follow me?"

The young groom entered the hallway once he confirmed the group was following him. Walking for a moment, the came to a place much different than the entrance. This place, instead of being high in contrasting red and white color, was much darker, only illuminated by a few weak magic lights. The groom opened one room and they entered. The room was pretty small, with only a table in the middle, two comfortable-looking couches on each side of the table and a window.

"If you need something, do call us with this bell."

Having done his part, the groom left the key on a small table near a little bell hanging on the wall and closed the door, leaving the trio alone.

While they sat, Armant found strange that even inside, Momon kept his helmet, but quickly forgot the thought when Nabe sat beside him. Despite having seen her already, her beauty was really something out of this world. He came back to his senses when he saw the hair pin.

"Hello again, how should I call you?"

"Just call us by our names, Momon and Nabe."

"Really? Well, it makes it simpler for me. I want to get immediately to the point, so please do not get offended by what I say until I finished. Is it alright?"

Momon nodded, while Nabe kept her poker face.

"Alright. I am looking for a person. It happens that last time I saw that person, she was wearing a hair pin very similar to the one your partner is wearing. I would like to take it just for a moment, to check if it is the same, if it is alright with you. Of course, I'm not accusing you of theft, I just want to check."

Momon nodded, and made a hand gesture toward Nabe. She took off the hair pin and put in on the table, in front of Armant. It was just for a split second, but Armant saw a cold glint in her eyes, as if she was looking at an insect.

Taking the piece of jewellery, he looked at it. Indeed, it was the same as in his memories, the day she showed him. Discreetly, he put it in contact with his bracelet. All those pieces of jewellery only wore by the royalty had another enchantment beside the protective one. In contact, they would release a unique mana signal, that only the wearer could feel. Confirming it was his sister's, he gave it back to Nabe.

"I cannot tell if it is exactly the same one, but from the outside it looks the same."

"So, what do you want us to do? If you know the protective power of this item, I trust you should know why I will outright refuse if you want it back, right? I'm not even sure you are what you say you are."

"Of course, of course. Sadly, I don't have enough funds to try to buy it back from y-"

Nabe rose from the couch abruptly, looking at Armant with such a menacing gaze he felt like he couldn't move anymore from the pressure.

"ENOUGH! Do you take my mast- partner for a fool, you scum?!"

She had already put her hand on the hilt of her sword when Momon put his hand on her shoulder, stopping her from unsheathing it.

The pressure emitted by Nabe was so powerful Armant felt like he was paralyzed. If suddenly he died from the pressure, he wouldn't be surprised. He just kept sitting, hands up in the air, the face white from fear.

"Forgive her, she's very loyal to me. Nabe, that person did nothing to me. Sit back and don't take out your sword."

Nabe sat back, but she didn't even try to hide her scornful gaze. Her lord only ordered her to not attack and sit after all. The pressure slowly faded away, but he still could feel hostility in the air.

The voice still trembling, Armant got back to the conversation.

"I-I still have one more thing to offer…"

Nabe's gaze got even more heavy.

"I t-trust you because you're an adamantite adventurer, but the person I'm looking for is able to use spells higher than the fourth tier. If not the reward, will at least the curiosity make you want to help me to look for her?"

"Higher than the fourth tier you say? It's still not too much information. Could you elaborate?"

"I'm really not supposed to say it, but if you can help me I guess it's worth the risk. The truth is the person I'm looking for is my sister, Erina. She's a very talented magic caster, and we came with my uncle, a knight. We were in a dire situation, and we had to teleport in emergency. I think she missed the spell, because we should have teleported at the same place, but we did not."

Momon stayed silent for a moment, seeming to be thinking about it. Armant respectfully waited, saying nothing.

' _Group teleportation? That should be 7_ _th_ _tier magic. The person is an inhabitant of this world, so it must be very strong. Too strong. She's a potential threat. I must absolutely contact her, and if needed kill her.'_

"You know what, Armant? We will help you. I'm an adamantite adventurer, so I should be able to use the guild's service for it. In return, I want to hear about the upper tier of magic. Is it alright?"

"You're saving me, mister Momon!"

"Please, just call me Momon. Should we go to the guild?"

"Yes!"

They left the room, thanked the groom with a silver coin and headed toward the guild.

* * *

As usual during winter, the guild was very lively. Some conversations about a concerning monster, plans for the future, boasting about exploits, drinking, eating and laughing, arguments about reward splitting, but no fights, thanks to the guild rules. At least, no fights inside.

When Momon opened the door, various adventurers saw the trio entering. As usual, Momon was admired, he was considered the strongest of all the adamantite adventurers, while Nabe was practically worshipped by the males, for her beauty. However, the third person was normal. Most adventurers kept their distance with Darkness as a form of respect even if Momon said multiples times to not do it. The third person was too close to them to be someone unrelated, and he didn't seem special. As he didn't wear a plate, most of the people deduced he must have been an employer. Still, the curiosity was strong.

Momon did a thing he never did before. He walked up to the middle of the room, and raised a hand, asking for silence. Once everybody was focused on him, he talked.

"I'm looking for a woman named Erina. She's not supposed to be an adventurer, but she's a powerful mage. Does the name ring a bell to someone?"

The room went silent, with only a few whispers from time to time. After a while, a gold plate rose from his chair.

"I don't know if it's the person you're looking for, but my party got a quest from a woman named Erina a few days ago."

"Oh, perfect. Could we talk about it more in details?"

The room slowly got back to its usual lively atmosphere, while the trio and the "Steel will" party made their way to a private room.

* * *

"… And after we rescued the knight, I think his name was Wilhelm, she gave us the reward once in E-rantel, and after that we don't know where they left."

In the private room, Ekain Leimann, the leader of the "Steel will" party just finished telling Momon, Nabe and Armant about their quest with Erina, and they waited anxiously for Momon's answer.

"What do you think, Armant?"

"From the description, it's sure it's Erina. But did they really tell nothing about their next destination?"

Ekain fell deep in thought, rubbing his chin, but Persis Trebert, the young mage, reacted.

"She said she was a magic researcher, so maybe she went to the mage's guild library!"

"Mmh. So we should ask there. Let's go, Nabe."

"Yes, mast-Momon."

They quickly thanked "Steel will", before leaving for the mage's guild.

* * *

In comparison to the other buildings on the street, the mage's guild was impressive. The building was clean, the floor made from neat stone tiles, the light came from magic orbs floating in the air, and a nice herbal smell came from the alchemy department.

The library was deeper in the building. Huge windows gave sufficient light, rows and rows of books from the floor to the ceiling, and a lot of people silently reading their books. The receptionist told them she saw a blond woman recently, in the spatial magic section.

"Come on, Nabe. We'll wait just outside the library. Take your time."

"Thanks a lot, mister Momon!"

Momon and Nabe walked out of the library, while Armant delved deeper into it. His expectation grew bigger and bigger as he approached the place Erina should be. Finally, he arrived at the spatial magic section.

There, a lone woman was reading at the light of a window. The hair style was the same, but when sue turned her head to look at the person approaching, he instantly recognized the face of his sister.

Relief came crashing down like a waterfall, wiping clear his worries.

"By the gods, Ar-"

She didn't have time to finish her sentence before he jumped to take her in his arms. She got surprised, but gently hugged him back, showing her sisterly love.

"I'm so glad you're alright."

They said this exactly at the same time, with the same tone. They stayed in this position for quite some time, before separating almost regretfully.

Erina sat back on the couch, and Armant did the same beside her.

"So, what happened, sis? How are you doing?"

" I'm so glad you're alright, Armant, you just can't believe how much. As for what happened, it all started when we were at the outpost. After using the teleportation spell, I wasn't conscious anymore, so I couldn't control precisely our landing point. When I woke up, I was in a village…"

* * *

"… And after leaving the adventurer's guild, we went to the mage's guild library and found you."

The brother and sister having finally told each other their adventures, they went quiet, thinking about it.

"So, this Momon is the leader of "Darkness", and the mage has my royal brooch, right?"

"Yes. Momon told me he would consider giving it back to you if you showed him one of your strongest spells."

"And you're sure he's not going to betray us?"

"We have no choice. He's apparently the strongest here, though I don't know to what extent. But if he accepts to give it back, we get your brooch, a good contact, against the possibility of being discovered. If he does it, which I doubt from what I heard about him, we'll only have to use the mana crystal to get back to the palace in Riyal."

"Well, if it's the only thing to pay for my magic brooch, it's kind of cheap. It's a win-win situation."

Erina closed the book she was reading before Armant came. While she put back the book on its original place, she was thinking about the reason behind the so-called Momon. Even if she trusted her brother more than anyone else in the world, putting on a magic show just to give away a seventh-tier protective artefact was simply not enough. Was it Nabe, his partner who wanted to learn new magic? From the standpoint of an adventurer, that was the logical conclusion. However, if Momon was a noble, it was possible he wanted to pressure her, a powerful mage, into working for him. It was also possible he simply wanted to make relations with her, but by having a childhood as a royalty, she knew nobles never have such pure intentions.

Seeing no end to the possibilities, she decided to stop thinking about it and just be careful when making requests or speaking to him.

"By the way sis, where is Wilhelm?"

"Oh, he wasn't really interested in books, so he just went drinking in a tavern while I made my research."

"Found something?"

She sighed.

"I wanted to check the magic and scientific advancement in this country, but it's reeeeaally not much. Only a few can cast more than third-tier spells, and practically nobody is researching science, only magic."

"Well, these countries are only around 200 years old, sis. Rida kingdom is formed for more than 700 years now, so it's normal."

"I guess so… I didn't expect much, but anyway, let's go thank Darkness."

"Sure."

Erina and Armant left the library, heading to the mage's guild entrance.

* * *

' _Hmmmm…'_

Ainz cancelled the **[Rabbits ear]** spell, and resumed mentally what he learnt.

' _So they're members of a royal family from a country the Re-estize kingdom, Holy kingdom, Draconic kingdom and Baharuth empire all don't know about. Yet, this Rida kingdom know about them and is much older. This country is advanced enough to know about and research science beside magic. They're not powerful enough to threaten Nazarick, but it's better to be careful… What should I do with them…'_

"Nabe, I finished with [Rabbits ear], you can stop looking for people coming this way."

"Yes, Mas-Momon."

Armant and Erina came from the hallway into the entrance, walking up to Darkness.

"Mister Momon, here's my sister, Erina."

"Enchanted to make your acquaintance, sir Momon. I'm Erina Eldra, magic researcher and future adventurer."

She bowed a little.

"Simply call me Momon, I don't like honorifics. Here's Nabe, my partner."

"If you don't mind, mister Momon, could we go outside the city so I can show you what can I do? The sooner it's done, the better."

"I think the same. We still have time before the night comes, so let's do it."

A simple agreement, a simple thing to do. Ainz liked when things were clear like that, with no message hidden.

* * *

The plains outside E-rantel were white from the snow, but the shiny weather already melted some parts, showing the grass and earth beneath it.

Armant was still wearing the leather coat Albert Leimann gave him, Erina a thick winter dress over her equipment, Nabe a winter cape, and Momon wore his usual armor, as if the weather had no effect on him. They walked for some time until they came into a clearing in the forest around the city.

Momon, Nabe and Armant stood on the border of the clearing, while Erina walked up to the middle, and aimed her staff at a tree in front of her. Focusing on her inner mana, she gathered it until there was enough and shouted in a loud voice.

 **[Thunder Grenade]!**

A ball of lightning was sent from the staff sending little lightning streaks around, floating in a curved manner, and landed on a rock. The spell activated, and a huge electric explosion destroyed the rock, and fried the trees four meters around. Immediately, the smell of burnt wood assaulted their noses, and a small gory mass fell from the sky. Probably a squirrel who didn't run away fast enough.

"Fifth-tier electromancy spell, [Thunder Grenade]. I have other spell more focused on making single-target damage, but I thought this one would be more impressive. Are you satisfied, mister Momon?"

' _Of course I'm not satisfied! I know you're able to use group teleportation, and that's seventh-tier magic. She's too cautious. But I guess that's to be expected from someone who received a royal education…'_

Momon put his hand up his chin, as if he was thinking.

"Hmm. Interesting. And that's the highest tier of magic you're able to use?"

"Yes."

' _Liar.'_

"As an adamantite adventurer, I think it's important to nurture strong adventurers. From your power, you're stronger than a normal adamantite adventurer, but I don't know of your combat experience. I will make an introduction letter to you to give you access immediately to gold plate, I hope they will accept. However, I have no proof that the magic brooch is yours. How can you prove it to me?"

Erina thought for a moment, before answering.

"If you look on the inner part of brooch, you will see the initials E.E. That's me, Erina Eldra."

Ainz already knew about this, the investigation of the item was made quickly but efficiently after all, but he had to put up the airs.

"Can you check, Nabe?"

"Yes."

She took out the brooch and observed it. After a few seconds, she confirmed with a nod.

"Then, take back your brooch, Erina Eldra. I hope this will mark the beginning of friendly relations between our adventurer groups."

"I hope so as well."

"Well then, you can go back to E-rantel first, we still have some business here."

"Thanks again, mister Momon!"

Momon waved when Armant said his final part, and waited until they were far away.

* * *

There seemed to be only two people in the clearing, but that was only for the inexperienced eyes.

"Narberal, protect us from hearing and vision."

Without a word, Narberal gamma activated **[Silence]** and **[Illusionary screen]**.

"Eight edge assassins!"

Immediately, a humanoid with eight members appeared in front of him.

"Follow this group, I want to know of every move she will make. Send the reports to Demiurge daily."

"Understood."

The assassin disappeared the same way he appeared. Ainz turned to look at Narberal's face.

"It seems you have something to say, is something on your mind?"

"No, lord Ainz, my worries are not worth enough to be shared to someone such as you."

Ainz sighed. He was very pleased to have such loyal people under his orders, but this overzealous behavior was annoying some times.

"I insist, no, this is an order. Tell me what's on your mind."

"If you say so, lord Ainz. If that maggot is a potential threat to Nazarick, why don't we crush her here and now?"

"She did nothing to us, Narberal. I shall not attack someone who didn't do any harm to Nazarick without a good reason. Plus, even if it's unlikely, there's the possibility of the country her being part of being powerful enough to threaten us."

In reality, Ainz was conscious that killing her now would eliminate a lot of potential problems. However, maybe it was the remnants of Suzuki Satoru, the human behind the machine and his morals, or maybe he simply didn't like free violence, but he couldn't make up his mind about killing her without a good reason.

"Nightfall is coming. We should get back to E-rantel."

"Yes, lord Ainz."

* * *

Back in E-rantel, Erina and Armant went to the tavern Wilhelm was drinking in. Approaching the establishment, they could already hear songs and shouts. Entering the building, they could see Wilhelm and another patron, having a drinking contest. Wilhelm was gulping alcohol as if it was water, but his opponent already showed signs of slowing. Everybody was shouting when they drank, and both refused to step down.

After a few more tankards of ale, Wilhelm's contestant dropped to the ground, absolutely wasted. Wilhelm raised his empty tankard, and everyone cheered for him.

Armant smiled, and Erina facepalmed.

"Wilhelm!"

Hearing Erina's shout, Wilhelm looked in their direction. When he saw Armant, he had a dumb face. He rubbed his eyes, looked again, before a big smile appeared on his face. He literally charged through the crowd of drunkards, sending them flying as if they were made of straw, and tackled Armant to the ground while roaring.

"ARMAAAAAAAAANT!"

The crowd laughed and then went back to drinking, leaving the trio alone.

"HOW YOU DOIN' BIG BOY!"

Erina sighed before grabbing Wilhelm by the collar and dragged them with great difficulty up to the room they took, Armant still immobilized in Wilhelm's embrace. Actually, the knight had great strength, and Armant had trouble breathing.

The room was quite a cheap one. Two beds at each side, a table in the middle, a little chest with a key, and that was all. Once inside, Wilhelm released Armant and dropped unconscious on one bed, already snoring.

"You should get to sleep, Eri. We'll talk tomorrow, I think we both need some sleep."

"You're right. Where will you sleep?"

"I'll just pay the innkeeper to get a mattress brought here, don't worry."

"Well, if you say so. Good night then."

As Armant was about to close the door, he heard Erina talking again.

"Just one thing, Armant. You can't imagine how relieved I am you're alright."

Armant smiled back.

"Me too, sis, me too."

* * *

The next morning was a tough one for Wilhelm. He couldn't remember what he did last night, but judging from the headache nailing him to the bed, he probably drank himself to unconsciousness. Slowly and gently, he rose from the bed to go outside, but tripped on something on the ground and fell. Holding his head, he looked at what he tripped on but what he saw wasn't what he expected.

There, someone was sleeping on a mattress. And Erina was still in her bed. Raising the cover, he saw Armant. Dumbfounded, he rubbed his eyes, but the vision did not change. He left the room, but this time with a smile on his face.

Once Erina and Armant woke up, they left the room too, to find Wilhelm already eating breakfast. They joined him at the table. Wilhelm began the conversation while he ate scrambled eggs.

"So, Armant, how you doin'? We haven't seen you for more than a week, we were worried!"

"Well, I began when Erina used her teleportation spell…"

* * *

"… And that's how I found Erina, and you after."

Wilhelm whistled.

"Well, if that isn't an adventure… Was the snow leaper tough to kill?"

"My leather armor could have protected me, but the impact still sent me flying for a few meters. And what about you?"

The knight cleared his throat.

"I present to you, dear audience, the epic story of a lonesome knight, looking for adventure and love on the roads!"

Erina and Armant chuckled.

"No, but really. Apparently, I was unconscious when I landed from the teleportation. Some priests took me, then some thieves, but I woke up inside a crate. I tried the break it, but those bastards probably drugged me, I couldn't even use martial arts. They put me in a jail, and tried to torture me. Ha! They're pitiful. They had to lower the drug dose so I could stay conscious, but that was enough for me to use [Ease pain]. It was so funny seeing that idiot with his whip trying to hurt me. The day tomorrow, Erina came to save me, we went back to E-rantel and that's all."

As they were about to continue the conversation, the door of the tavern opened, and a woman entered. That woman was Nabe, the beautiful princess, partner of Momon the black. Nobody in the inn expected to see her in this establishment, so all the men had gaping mouths and wide-open eyes, while the women tried to take them back to reality. Everybody, except Erina and Armant who already saw her and expected her.

She came to their table, and dropped a letter.

"From Momon."

As abruptly as she came, she left without more words.

Opening the letter, Erina smiled.

 _Dear adventurer guild,_

 _I, Momon the black, leader of the adamantite "Darkness" party, can testify that Erina Eldra, Armant Eldra and Wilhelm Capirossi are strong people, therefore the copper, iron and silver are a level that would just slow down their development. I ask you that you consider this when they register as adventurers._

 _Momon_

"We're lucky. You don't know it yet Wilhelm, but that's an introduction letter from Momon to the adventurer's guild. Normally they ignore these letters because nobles try to use them, but coming from an adamantite adventurer and Momon the black, hero of the city, they should do it so we don't start at the copper plate. Maybe silver or gold plate?..."

The rest of the day was spent first to register in the adventurer guild. The receptionist was first a little condescending, the rules were very strict after all, but she freaked out when she read the letter, running inside the building to show it to Pluton Ainzach, the guildmaster. Pluton urged them to go to a private room.

Once inside, Pluton carefully locked the door and closed the curtains.

"I'm Pluton Ainzack, the guildmaster. I hope you understand we have very strict rules, even a normal adamantite adventurer is not given such privileges. Well, Momon and Nabe are far from being normal adamantite adventurers, but still. Therefore, we'll make it like you are adventurers from the Baharuth empire. If other adventurers discover this, we're sure to lose our authority, so please be careful."

"Yes, of course."

He dropped three gold plates on the table when he heard Erina's confirmation.

"Here are your gold plates. I'm trusting Momon on your strength level, but I'll be following your development closely. Go to the reception to give your party name."

He left the room when a guild employee asked him to come for something.

Leaving the room, they headed to the reception, where the woman who greeted them first was working. Seeing them approaching, she anxiously waited.

"Sorry to misjudge you, I did not know you were acquaintances of sir Momon. I assume a literacy test will not be necessary. What will be your group name?"

Erina, Armant and Wilhelm looked at each other. They had already decided of a name during breakfast. Erina smiled and answered.

"It will be the "Wolf fangs"."

They had decided of this name because of their origins. The wolf was a respected animal in Rida kingdom, because despite being a weak animal when compared to other monsters like yacks, grizzlies, snow orcs or even yetis, the wolf pack could take them down when working together. Some tamers even used huge alpha wolfs as mounts. Being the owner of a tamed wolf was a great mark of prestige for people in Rida kingdom.

"Alright. If you want to take a quest, you can either look at the board, or I can give you a urgent request. Urgent requests are harder, but if you can complete them, they will give you more chances to go up a plate when we consider you deserve it."

The newly formed adventurer group accepted without hesitation. From what Erina learned when talking to member of the "Steel will" party, gold-level quests was something that should be easy for them.

"First, we'd like to know what's this urgent request about."

At Erina's inquiries, the woman took out a sheet of paper from behind the desk and read it quickly.

"There's a village, Lewes, two days of travel from here, that has suffered goblin attacks. We sent first an silver ranked party, but we have no news from them for two weeks now, that's why we send a gold party this time. Goblins usually are weak; the previous party must have been overwhelmed by the number."

"Just some goblins, huh? Well, it should be easy. We'll take it."

"If you want, there's a merchant caravan going in that direction. They will not go to the village, but they pass close, do you want me to notify them of your presence?"

Looking at the two men who nodded, Erina accepted.

"Go to the northern gate tomorrow at dawn, the caravan should be there."

They left the adventurer's guild building, and Erina shared the fifty-six gold coins she had equally to Wilhelm and Armant, and they separated to prepare for the adventure.

Armant had to go buy bolts for his crossbow, Wilhelm was in charge of buying all the food and drinks, and Erina all the consumables like potions, alchemic grenades and wands charged with healing spells, given that they had no healer in the party.

In the evening, Wilhelm spent his time polishing his shield, which received some hits during the battle with the bandits. Erina simply sat by the fireplace, reading a book about magic, and Armant was cursing as he couldn't find the right bolt size for his crossbow, and had to buy some generic ones and modify them by hand. They went sleeping early, as to avoid being tired tomorrow.

* * *

Tomorrow morning, they went to the northern gate with all their gear. There, multiple wagons were already outside the walls, ready to go. Multiple teams of adventurers were here too, to act as guards.

When seeing them approaching, a man came to meet them. He was wearing a crude leather armor and an iron plate was dangling on his neck.

"Who're you?"

Erina took out the contract the guild employee gave them and handed it to him.

"We're here only for the travel until we're close to Lewes. We will leave at that moment."

The man looked at the contract only for a second, before shoving it back in her hands.

"Put your pack in the last wagon, that's where we adventurers put our stuff."

As soon as they put their backpacks, a horn was blown and the caravan started moving.

Thanks to their number and despite the riches in the caravans, no bandit or monster attacked. The sole few problems were some broken wheels. Mages, priests and healers stayed on the caravans because of their lower body constitution, while the fighters, tank, rangers and thieves walked alongside it.

The sun was strong and the air was fresh, the conditions were perfect for travelling. After a day and half, the same man who greeted them first approached them.

"We're close to Lewes, get out quickly so we don't lose time!"

They were nearly kicked out of the caravan and their backpacks thrown beside them, and they watched as it left in the distance.

"Well, he wasn't the friendliest fellow. Let's go."

They took everything and left for Lewes. According to the guild, Lewes was a village focused on the wood market. They cut trees, turned them into planks, and sold them. Recently, a goblin tribe had established itself in a nearby cave, making the lumberjacks work dangerous.

The village has a simple wooden wall around it, and two guards with a fork and a hoe stood at the entrance.

"Huh? Who are you? You're not traders?"

"No, adventurers. We received a quest to wipe out the goblin tribe around here."

The man had a look of incomprehension on his face, before he reacted.

"Ah, yes, the goblin tribe. What terrible monsters right? Hey, bring them to the chief!"

The other guard nodded, and went inside the village without checking if they were following.

Inside, there was a gloomy feeling. Overall, it was a normal looking village, with houses made of wood and straw, but it was dirty. Even worse, with the snow melting, the ground was covered in a sticky mud. There was a church of the earth god near the wall. Some children were playing in a pool of mud, throwing dirty water at each other. However, everybody had a weapon, be it an axe for the lumberjacks, kitchen knives or machetes for the women, and even the children had knives or makeshift spears. The look on people's face was empty, but they didn't look hungry.

The hut of the village chief in a slightly better state than the rest of the village, with somewhat clean walls and a paved entrance.

The guard called the chief, and left to the entrance. A few moments after, the chief came. He was pretty muscular, wore simple dark blue and brown clothes, and had the same hat the chief of Carne village had.

"What're you here for?"

Surprised by the open hostility the man had in his look, Erina didn't answer immediately so Wilhelm took the lead.

"We're adventurers. We're here for the goblins."

"They're in a cave north o' here, in the forest. Come back when you finish."

And just like that, the village chief closed brutally the door, making the hinges tremble. Erina sighed.

"Seems like it's a habit to be rude around here. Should we go?"

Armant looked at the sky.

"No, it's the evening, and we don't know how far is that cave. If we have to travel, I'd rather do it during the day.

"Yeah, you're right. Let's search for a place to spend the night."

They asked around, but the village was small and there was no inn. Asking the inhabitants, they all had refused except an old crooked lady with white hair and a scared look on her face. During dinner, she told nothing, making an awkward atmosphere, even when Erina or Wilhelm tried to ask her. The only thing she said when they were about to go into the room she lent them was:

"Tomorrow, please leave. Don't go into that cave. Goblins are easy to handle, it's only a matter of time before we take care of them. We don't need adventurers here."

Wondering about what she meant, they went to sleep, but with a little worry gnawing in their minds.

The next morning, the old lady practically kicked them out of the house, pushing them out and closing the door without a word.

On their way out, the villagers already awake sent them curious, maybe hostile gazes. The path to the cave was actually pretty empty. They could hear nothing in the forest, no animal noises, no insects flying, only the sound of the wind in the leaves and occasionally the sound of a branch falling from a tree. They were on their guard for a potential ambush, but Erina's **[Alarm]** spell did not activate. Maybe they were observed from a place out of range of the spell, it worked only about fifteen meters around her, but the silence and lack of wildlife was unsettling.

At noon, they arrived in a rocky area. Huge boulders made a maze-like zone, easy to be ambushed from above, and they were numerous little caves everywhere.

"Be careful now. We should eat before if the objective takes too much time, but not too much."

On Wilhelm's advice, they mostly ate dried food rations and drank, before entering the maze-like area. One could say that it should be hard to find the right cave, but luckily goblins were not the most intelligent creatures, and there was a lot of footprints on the ground.

They finally arrived at a slightly larger cave. Seeing that there were no guards at the entrance, they relaxed a little.

"I will go at the front. Erina, you go in the middle and Armant, you go behind Erina to watch our back. We don't want to get ambushed from behind."

Armant and Erina nodded, before taking their positions. Wilhelm took his axe in one hand, and advanced shield raised in front of him. Erina cast **[Cat vision]** on the three of them to see in the dark. The cave was narrow, they had to crouch to go by some places, before they arrived at a larger opening. Inside, there was a fire burning with what looked like a stew boiling, makeshift beds and six goblins. One was sleeping on a leaf bed, one was cooking, one was sitting in front of the fire, looking at the flames, and the tree others were talking in their incomprehensible language. The one sleeping was holding something in its hands, something like a package.

Wilhelm immediately attacked before they reacted, he charged and beheaded the one cooking, and started fighting the three others who picked their wooden lances. Erina cast a **[Minor thunder grenade]** between the one sleeping and the one sitting by the fire, already standing up and reaching for a machete. The spell exploded, stunning and paralyzing them. Armant shot a bolt, killing the one who reached for the machete, and Wilhelm finished his fight, shoving his axe deep in the last goblin's shoulder.

The only one left was the one who was sleeping. The paralyzing effect wore off, but the creature did not attack immediately. It only stood there, holding the package. That's when Erina noticed. The last goblin had a piece of cloth, covering its torso. But there was a bulge. The last goblin alive was a female, and when she looked closely, she could make out three little goblin heads coming out of the package.

Realizing what she had done, she felt paralyzed. Because deep in the eye of the goblin when it turned to face them, under the intense rage, she could see despair. The despair of a mother who just lost her children.

Shocked by her actions, she did not react when the creature grabbed a pointy stick and charged at her. Wilhelm shouted "ERINA!" and tackled the goblin, before delivering the killing blow.

Slowly but surely, Erina got a hold of herself, while Wilhelm and Armant were searching the place, looking for a way deeper underground, leaving Erina alone for a moment.

For the first time in her life, Erina had seen a goblin crying. It was a shocking sight, because it shook all her beliefs about monsters being just simple bloodthirsty beings.

Seeing that she was herself again, Armant started the conversation.

"There's no other way than the one we came from. Maybe it's the wrong cave? I doubt an iron ranked party would be killed by only six goblins…"

Wilhelm finished rummaging through an old backpack lying on the ground. He took out a small phial filled with a blue liquid.

"What's this? A mana potion?"

Erina reacted, trying to forget what just happened.

"No, it's a health potion. I don't know why, the health potions here are blue. And when I asked the alchemist I was buying from, he said mana potions were things so rare only the richest nobles or adamantite parties can buy them."

Armant covered the little package with the baby goblins with an old animal hide.

"We should search this area. I doubt the lumberjacks would fear just a bunch of goblins."

They left the place, and spent the afternoon searching the maze-like area, but to no avail. Apart from some wolf footprints on the grounds and some normal animals, there was no other big cave.

It was the evening when they decided to go back to the village to ask about this. On their way back, the found the same old lady that gave them shelter that night. She looked relieved when she found them, and immediately waved. They approached her, but they noticed she still had that fearful look on her face.

"Come, quickly! I'll explain later, but you are in danger!"

Without more explanation, she left the main path, leading them deep into the forest.

"Are you not afraid of animals and monsters?"

At Armant's question, she didn't even look back.

"All the animals and weak monsters in the vicinity of the village left. Only humans are foolish enough to stay close to the village…"

"What?"

This time, she looked back.

"Do you not understand? The monsters are inside the wall, not outside."

She was surprisingly fast for her age, and they realized she took another way to go inside the village, to avoid the main entrance. She looked carefully at the wooden wall, before trying to push one plank in particular. Wilhelm gently pulled her back, and pushed the plank. It opened, and the old lady quickly entered. They did the same, and Wilhelm closed the plank behind him. The whole village seemed empty. Approaching a young boy, she tapped him on the shoulder.

"Are they here yet?"

The boy nodded left and right.

"Good, come with us."

The boy obediently followed them, and the whole group finally entered the old lady's house undetected. Once inside, she sat on a chair and sighed of relief.

"Oohhh, my old bones. Dear, can you make some tea for us?"

The boy nodded up and down, and began lighting up a fire.

"Can you explain us? What is happening here?"

"Yes sweetie, just give me some time to recover."

After Erina's question, she took some time to recover.

"It is going to be a long story. It all began around two years ago. My son who was an adventurer at that time, came back from the Algrand republic. It was right at the time for a new chief to be elected, and the local lord liked his experience and initiative, so he made him the chief of the village. But something happened to him. He was not the cheerful boy anymore, he was hostile, mean, and violent. I didn't know what those beastmen did to him, and frankly I didn't want to know at that time. After he became the chief, everything started to change. There's always this gloomy feeling, and people started inexplicably disappearing, before reappearing sometime later, saying they got lost in the forest. I was suspicious at that time, but it all became clear when my daughter came to see me. She had a big animal bite mark on her arm, and she was holding her five years old son. She told me everything. All the people who disappeared and came back were werewolves, and my son was their leader. She drank some poison later, she didn't want to become one of them. I didn't really focus on that at that time, because I had to take care of my grandson. But recently, the disappearances stopped. That can only mean one thing. Everybody in this village is a werewolf. I am too old to travel, so I can't leave, and I can't leave my grandson with those… Monsters… So I made up a story about goblins, convinced my son that there we couldn't kill them on our own, but I couldn't tell them I knew, they would kill me and my grandson would be left alone. I hoped you could leave the village quickly before they come back, and take my grandson to my other daughter in E-rantel…"

Erina, Wilhelm and Armant had the same reactions. Erina was thinking how many werewolves they could take out, Wilhelm was thinking about all his martial arts with area damage, and Armant was already rummaging in his backpack, looking for that liquid silver flask Erina bought from the alchemist.

"Wh…What are you doing?"

Erina answered while remembering her upper-tier spells.

"It's simple. I know it will be hard for you, you have friends and family here after all, but if we leave them like that it's only a question of time before they try to spread lycantropy in other villages."

The old lady had a desperate face.

"No, you can't. The other group of adventurers had the same reaction, and they were literally teared apart and eaten by the werewolves…"

"We're not as weak. We're more… deadly."

* * *

Erina, Wilhelm and Armant were waiting at the entrance of the village, when a crowd came from the forest when the sun set down. They were all inhabitants from this village, except they didn't try to hide their intentions anymore. Many of them were licking their lips, and the village chief was barely holding them back.

"Oh, a surprise. Brothers and sisters, looks like this harvest will be enough for at least a month!"

Without any explanation, Erina held her staff with two hands, and started chanting.

 **[Clear and innocent on the outside, yet tainted by filth on the inside, hear the voice of the world and obey! Reveal your true look and nature to the world!]**

Feeling her blood being consumed by the spell, Erina felt weakened, but she was rewarded with all the villagers in front of her, kneeling. They held their head, groaning from pain. Finally, fur started appearing on their skin, they became bigger, ripping open their clothes, ears dissolved to become triangular animal ears on top of their heads, and a muzzle appeared, in front of a pair of yellow eyes.

"Good. There are only werewolves. We don't need to hold back."

The leader, who was the former village chief, answered in a deep, wild voice.

" **You wish you could take us out, fool. People here are merely a fraction of my pack. Brothers and sisters, let's feast!"**

They charged, but Wilhelm was not a palace guard for nothing. When they were just in front of him, he started using martial arts.

"Come at me! **[Earthquake]!** "

He hit his shield on the ground, making it shake and making the first line of werewolves stumble.

 **[Magma slash!]**

He swiped his axe horizontally in front of him. A glowing fire line followed the metal of the axe, cutting in half the werewolves fallen in front of him, and setting on fire the ones behind them.

That move was Wilhelm's specialty. All the palace guards in Riyal had to be efficient in martial arts, and he focused on learning fire-based martial arts. That made him known as "The volcanic warrior" in the city.

The leader of the werewolves looked surprised, but he quickly reacted.

" **Like I said, this is merely a fraction of my pack. Brothers and sisters, attack them while I call upon our brethren!"**

He inhaled a great amount of air, before howling for a good ten seconds. A moment after, numerous howls responded in the forest all around them.

" **Look at this beautiful moon on the sky, a perfect night for a perfect hunt!"**

Werewolves and even wolves came from the forest, breaching the wall, and calling upon even more wolves and werewolves. It didn't take much time for them to be surrounded, despite Wilhelm's perfect axe usage, Armant's perfect marksmanship and Erina's greater magic control.

"Erina! Give us some time!"

"Okay! **[Greater thunder dome]!** "

A ray of thunder came from the top of her staff, and formed a dome of electricity surrounding them, protecting them for the time being. Seeing that everyone who touched the dome died, the werewolves simply waited until she ran out of mana, growling and howling.

Wilhelm drank a green stamina potion, and turned to face Erina and Armant.

"We need a place to defend, we won't last long like this."

Erina had her eyes closed, still holding her staff. She was focused on maintaining the spell and couldn't afford to think of anything else. A moment of losing focus was all the enemies needed to rush and kill her before she could react.

Armant looked around.

"The church of the earth god? The walls are made of stone, it's the only place I can think of."

"Let's go there. Erina, can you maintain the dome while we run there?"

"If you hold me, yes."

Wilhelm carefully took Erina in the princess carry position, while she focused on not losing control of her spell. Armant and Wilhelm ran to the church. Some werewolves tried to stop them, but the thunder dome was still active, and they died, so the pack followed them, counting on their advantage in number to simply overrun them.

Wilhelm carefully dropped her on the stairs leading to the entrance, and tried to open the doors. They were locked so he used **[Powered shoulder bash]** to burst them open. Erina slowly walked inside, Armant followed, and Wilhelm positioned himself in the entrance.

"I'm deactivating the spell in 3…2…1…"

The dome slowly disappeared, no more fed with mana. Erina lost her balance, and had to sit to open a mana potion and drink it. It was the first time she had to maintain a sixth-tier spell for such a long time, and she spent more than three quarters of her mana. The moment the spell disappeared, the werewolves charged like madmen. Wilhelm had to use **[Earthquake]** a second time to break their momentum.

The night was long, the bodies piled, the mana and stamina potions were emptied. At one point, Armant ran out of bolts, despite the stock he bought that was supposed to last at least one month, and had to unsheathe his short sword and help Wilhelm at the front. The pack attacked on waves, when they understood that simply charging furiously would not work. Some of them, maybe the previous leader's adventurer's mates knew how to use martial arts, making Wilhelm's and Armant's task harder.

After a few hours, the attacks weakened. The former village chief led the last wave. It was formed of only werewolves wearing armor designed for their peculiar form, and they didn't blindly attack. They held weapons, and knew how to use them. Erina finished the fight by using an electromancy seventh-tier spell, she strongest she could cast, **[Maximise magic: Chain dragon lightning]**

Rays of electricity came out of her staff and hit a poor werewolf, who died on the spot. The lightning jumped from werewolf to werewolf until they all died.

Before he died, the former leader whispered his last words:

"For…The…Great…Pack…"

Wilhelm took out his helmet, breathing loudly. Armant was leaning on one of the walls, barely standing up, and Erina was sitting on a bench inside, trying to calm the huge headache from all the spells she used. She didn't run out of mana, she had a lot of mana potions after all, but staying focused for such a long time was no easy task.

The battlefield was eerily silent. A smell of burned flesh came from all the bodies burned by Wilhelm's fire skills and Erina's thunder magic. Two piles were formed on each side of the entrance, as the werewolves literally had to push away the bodies to get to them. Some had successfully jumped over Wilhelm during the fight, and Erina and Armant had to kill them, making it so even the church's interior had blood splatters.

Wilhelm had no exterior injury, but there were simply too much of them and he took some hits. His armor repelled them easily, but the impact still gave him some painful bruises. Armant was in the same state, except blood was flowing out from a wound on his neck. Erina didn't go to close-combat, but she felt like her head was ready to explode from the headache.

Some moments later, Erina rose from the bench and went outside. Wilhelm tried to stop her, but she reassured him quickly.

"Don't worry, my last spell should have killed the surviving ones. It cost me half of my mana, but it was worth it."

She searched the body of the leader and the ones who were wearing armors, but they had nothing noteworthy on them, and the armor and weapons were made from regular steel.

"We should check his house. I doubt he could have infected and hid so much werewolves on his own."

Wilhelm and Armant nodded, too tired to even talk, before following Erina. On their way, they passed by the old lady's house. She looked at them with an admirative expression from the opened door.

"I think I just witnessed the birth of an adamantite party…"

She came out and hugged them one by one, in a hug full of love only grandmothers were able to give. Erina was quite surprised.

"You… You have nothing against us? We just slaughtered everyone one in the village including your family."

Despite the massacre that took place, she had a smile on her face.

"These people stopped being my family the moment I knew they had turned into those… Monsters. My only family is my grandson, and thanks to you he's safe now."

Erina smiled back, but the old lady didn't finish.

"Now that there are no more of them… I guess we can take the farmer's wagon to go back. Even if I can't travel, if I don't have to walk it will be fine. Niry, help me pack things up for the journey."

The young boy didn't answer, but he nodded and ran back inside.

The trio arrived at the village's chief house and searched it, but they found nothing noteworthy, a normal village house and no more. Wilhelm realized something.

"It can't be…"

He came back to the entrance, lifted the rug and snickered.

"A classic."

Under the rug, there was a trapdoor.

"Erina, Armant, I found something!"

The trapdoor had a lock, but Wilhelm quickly smashed it and opened. The small cellar was quite packed, making it hard for the three of them to go inside. Wilhelm whistled when he saw an armor on an armor stand.

"Sweet. The metal is kinda glowing, it's made from mithril, we could fetch a nice price for this."

Armant looked at it, and back at the armor Wilhelm was wearing.

"You don't want it?"

"No. First, my armor is made entirely from fogzephyr. As hard as adamantite, but much lighter, so in any case better than mithril armor, and second my armor is enchanted with a lot of powerful enchantments."

Erina called to them.

"Hey, I found something!"

They followed her in the narrow passage, and they arrived at a slightly larger place. There were crates piled in the corners, and a desk with a feather to write and a lit candle. Erina was waving to them with a sheet of paper in her hand.

"What does it say?"

"Read it yourself."

She handed Wilhelm the paper, before going in the direction of the crates. The letter was quite long, so Wilhelm made a quick summary to Armant.

"Basically, there an organization, The Great Pack, that wanted to spread lycanthropy in the Re-estize kingdom. After infecting enough people with the werewolf curse, they would take over E-rantel while the kingdom's army is occupied with the Empire. The leader was an adventurer who accepted willingly the curse, so he was made the chief of a "pack" as they call it, and would have the honor to be the lord of E-rantel. We arrived just at the right time, he had just received a lot of reinforcements and hid them in the surrounding forest, that's why there were no more animals."

"We should take that back to Pluton Ainzach. If other villages are cursed, only the gods know what will happen."

"Yup. But before, we take that armor, it's going to sell well."

They had to buy back a lot of consumables after all. Erina had drank all her mana potions. And mana potions here are very expensive, so they would need a lot of money. Stamina potions were not as rare, but the most effective ones were as expensive as the mana potions.

They searched the place, and opened the crates. They were filled with metal and leather armor, weapons, arrows, bolts (Armant happily took a lot of them), dried rations… Everything needed to start a revolution. But other than that, they found nothing more interesting. They left the place, and the old lady was waiting for them, while the boy held the reins of the horse pulling the wagon they were in.

"I didn't tell you because I thought you were going to die here, but I'm Alice. The boy is Niry. Welcome aboard."

Alice welcomed them with a bright smile. Wilhelm put the armor he salvaged in the wagon, they hopped inside, and took the direction of E-rantel under the light of the stars and the moon in the sky.

* * *

 **Hoy there, author here,  
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	8. Chapter 7: The hunted hunters

**A quick reminder because the last chapter is closely linked to this one: Erina, Armant and Wilhelm recently killed an entire village of werewolves. They found out the villagers were infected by an organization named "The great pack", which originates from the Algrand republic.**

* * *

« We're in deep shit ! »

Those were Pluton Ainzach's first words when he received the report he asked from the Algrand's republic adventurer guild. Normally, he would never use such crude words, but the situation was so messy he couldn't help it.

It first began when Erina, Armant and Wilhelm, the trio forming the "Wolf fang" party came back. Their report mentioned something… _unusual_ , would be the right word. What should have been a normal goblin extermination quest turned into a bloody genocide. From what they said, they were attacked by an army of werewolves. Ainzach laughed first when he read the report, it was so unbelievable after all, but a witness, an old lady told the same thing. Not believing his ears, he sent an adventurer party to scout the village, and the report was exactly as they said. The ground was littered with werewolf corpses. They quickly sent around fifty adventurers to burn the bodies before undead started appearing, and the body count came. Around 150 werewolves, and more than 200 wolves. That was a feat that awarded immediately the platinum rank to "Wolf fang".

However, what was concerning was the letter they found in the leader of the pack's house. Ainzach asked for a report to some fellow guild leaders in the Algrand republic, and the answer he got horrified him. The "Great pack", was a criminal organization in the Algrand republic, kind of like Zurannon in human countries. They were religious zealots, convinced that lycanthropy was a blessing that had to be shared to everyone. Even worse, recently that organization infected a lot of villages in the republic without anyone noticing, until the merchant's guild registered a big decrease of selling in the silver market. In fact, nobody bought or sold the silver stocks in this part of the republic, resulting in the crash of this market. The merchant guild sent investigators in all of the villages, and that's how they discovered the truth. A part of the republic got turned into a werewolf heaven, and the republic summoned its army to fight the thousands of werewolves before it was too late for the population.

That's where we come back to Ainzach's use of swear words. Theo Rakeshir, the head of the mage's guild was sat beside him and was in the same state. They were in a private room in the adventurer guild building.

Theo drank from a glass in front of him full of an amber alcohol.

"Hey, Ainzach, can't we do something? The kingdom may not listen one of us, but if we both talk to the king about it?"

Ainzack kept hitting the table with his fist, before he calmed down and the anger left his mind, replaced by a cold feeling of dread.

"No. The king may hear us, but the nobles won't accept. Those idiot nobles are too focused on the yearly war with the Empire coming, they won't take care of some peasants turning into werewolves. They will only do something when it will affect their revenue, but it will be too late by then. But we should at least let them know, maybe a few will be able to spare some soldiers to help us. I'll go to today's royal council to pass the message."

Theo put back his glass on the table, thinking about what he could do.

"But we can't just test each village citizen reaction to silver, right? How do we do it then? The mage's guild research was focused on fighting the undead because of Zurannon, we never really had a serious werewolf problem so we never produced anything aimed specifically at werewolves."

"Well, we know they are weak to silver. Can you use this as a basic for your guild's future research? Also, I'm sure you have a lot of books in the library about them."

Theo sighed and put back his glass on the table.

"Yes, I'll order to research to be conducted once I'm back at the guild. But for now, the only thing we can do is send adventurers in each village of the region and test them. I have a few illusion specialists in my ranks, I'll send them to you so they can work with the adventurers."

"Thanks."

As Ainzach was about to leave the room, he turned back.

"Wait, we must also test the current adventurers and mages. If they're trying to take over the kingdom, surely they have spies in our ranks. We must do it so the spies don't have time to hide or flee."

The mage rubbed his chin for a moment, before a grin appeared on his face.

"I just thought of something for that. Just listen to me, and it should work."

* * *

Two days later. All of E-rantel's adventurers had been reunited in the adventurer's guild. A lot of them were curious, for when the guild master did something like that, the situation was extraordinary. The others were uninterested, or bored already. Given that all of E-rantel's adventurers were in a single building, there wasn't much space, and the late adventurers had trouble cramming themselves into the crowd.

Even the guild employees had trouble understanding the goal of this meeting. All that was said to them was that they had to make it so every adventurer could enter, and then wait for the guildmaster to do his speech.

"Blue rose", the adamantite adventurer party, sat at a table alone. Lakyus, Evileye, Gagaran, Tia and Tina were on the lookout, after having heard what the guildmaster told them. All the lower adventurers were standing, while the platinum, orichalcum and mithril parties were given a table.

"Sky wolf", the mithril adventurer party was given the same orders as "Blue rose", and were looking carefully at the crowd. Finally, Pluton Ainzach appeared at the top of the stairs leading up the building and asked for silence.

"Welcome, adventurers. I have an important information to all of you. But first, let's light up the room."

It was morning, the sun was high in the sky, so the crowd was confused as some mages up the mezzanine cast some spells. A clear crystalline sound was heard, and suddenly a cry of pain was heard. A whole silver party was kneeling on the ground, holding their heads and groaning out of pain, and another gold one was doing the same.

The disguised werewolves could not resist the moon's call, and their inner bestial nature started surfacing, making fur grow on their skin and long muzzles appearing on their faces. The surrounding low-level parties started panicking and tried to push back the crowd, while the more experienced didn't understand but already raised their shields and unsheathed their weapons.

"Blue rose" pushed the crowd apart, trying to join the former gold adventurers before they transformed totally. Evileye could not use her magic in such a crowded area, and Gagaran used her steel-like muscles to restrain two at the same time, holding their arms. Tia and Tina quickly started strangling the two others with thin ropes.

Meanwhile, "Sky wolf" held the former silver adventurer party in check. Copper ranked adventurers were screaming, trying to get out of the building. Iron ranked parties looked at other adventurers anxiously, expecting them to turn into werewolves at any moment. Silver ranked parties nervously unsheathed their weapons and prepared their magic. Gold and higher were nervous, but deduced that the danger was already dealt with and waited.

Thanks to the sturdy walls and doors, nobody went outside, and the crowd slowly but surely calmed, with lower-levelled parties being reassured by higher-levelled parties. Finally, Momon and Nabe appeared beside the guildmaster, reassuring even the copper parties about to leave.

According to the instructions, the werewolves were taken deeper into the building, into the restraining pen usually used for bounties for live monsters. Ainzach raised his arms, asking for silence.

"Now, I know the situation must feel chaotic to you, but I actually needed to do this."

The crowd finally silenced down, with only a few whispers from time to time.

"What I feared happened, and we, the adventurers, must deal with this. I am sad to announce to you that there are werewolves trying to take down the kingdom."

The whispers intensified, and some gasps were heard.

"This was necessary to discover the spies in our ranks. Now, we must react before the other spies make their main force aware of us. I already sent a message to the king and the nobles affected by the matter. From the reports of the silver market, we expect around three or four villages completely cursed by lycanthropy, and one or two others currently being infected. Luckily for us, we discovered them soon enough, so only the area near E-rantel is infected."

One adventurer, a female priest with a purple robe and a staff raised her hand.

"What about our families and friends in the infected villages? Are we going to just slay them too? Is Gerlo a part of them?"

"Unfortunately, yes. The village of Gerlo is on the completely infected list."

Tears appeared on the woman's face, as she tried to not break from the shock.

"But… My parents…My sister and my little brother…"

As she remembered her family, the shock from what had to be done hit her, and she fell on her knees, crying. The crowd looked with sad eyes at the tragedy happening, before Momon spoke.

"What is your name?"

The woman raised her head, and answered between two sobs.

"Ane…Aneliya…"

Momon stepped down from the stairs, and came down. The crowd parted, leaving a clear path to Aneliya. He knelt in front of her, putting a hand on her shoulder.

"I am sorry, Aneliya, but it has to be done. They are not human anymore. Remember the good moments spent with them. Remember how they loved you. Remember how your life was with them, because we have no other choice, sadly. Let these memories be the last thing you remember about them."

Aneliya finally broke, and she couldn't contain her cries anymore. Her wails echoed in the silent building, while her party took her into the back to try to console her. Momon stood up, watching the crowd.

"We have no other choice. There is no cure. We must hit them quick and hard, so they don't spread lycanthropy. If they do, what you just saw will be a common sight in the kingdom. So please. Along with the other adamantite adventurers, we will be the spearhead of the attack, but we need your support to clean the villages. Help us for this attack, and you will be remembered as the people who prevented the citizens from slaughter."

He spoke in a low voice first, raised the volume of his voice at the end of his speech and raised his arm.

Momon the black, the hero of E-rantel and believed to be the most powerful adamantite adventurer along with his partner, Nabe. He recently killed a powerful vampire, and had been rewarded with the adamantite plate. Having received an inspirational speech from the person they looked the most to, the adventurers cheered, waving their weapons and raising their cups.

After the commotion calmed, Ainzach explained the plan.

"Like Momon said, Darkness and Blue rose will be the spear heads for the attack. Platinum, orichalcum, mithril and gold and silver plates will be the main force. Sorry for iron and copper plates, but werewolves are simply too powerful, and sending you to battle against them would make too much losses. You will depart tomorrow morning, meet us at the eastern gate. For the battle plan, ask the guild employees, they will explain to you. And of course, a hefty reward will be given to those who participate."

The crowd cheered once again, before Ainzach disappeared back inside with Momon. The adventurers willing to participate went to the counter to register themselves, but there weren't too much people who didn't participate. After having received such an encouraging speech from their hero, most of them didn't want to drop the expectations Momon gave them. Even for the most reticent, the glares of the other adventurers convinced them.

* * *

As Momon was walking back inside for the werewolves questioning, something was making him curious. Nabe probably didn't know, so he couldn't ask her. Not being able to answer to his question, he had no choice but to ask Ainzach.

"Sorry, but what were those lights? I don't remember of a spell able to uncover werewolves…"

Ainzach looked at him for a moment before he answered.

"It's not surprising, really. Even I did not know about them before this morning. Theo Rakesil, the head of the mage's guild told me about them. We used crystals called moon crystals. Apparently, there's a land way up north, where the sun never rises. A demi-human tribe there expose these mana crystals for decades under the moonlight to make them change. Werewolves transform only under when there is a full moon, but they couldn't resist the bestial call from such a concentrated moon light. These moon crystals are normally very expensive, only used for high-grade alchemy, but we didn't really have another choice. We simply made them explode, and all the light trapped inside went out."

' _Interesting. I remember there was something similar in the cash shop. But the people of this world didn't know about it, they used an alchemy ingredient for another purpose, I didn't think it was even possible. But that would also mean that werewolves need a certain percentage of moonlight to transform, explaining why they are forced to change at the full moon… I must ask someone at Nazarick to research the alternative use of crafting ingredients.'_

"Really interesting. Could I get a sample? I'm really curious."

Ainzach smiled brightly.

"But of course, it's not like I can refuse such a small demand from you!"

"No, but…"

"I will ask Theo Rakesir to have one ready when we come back."

"Huh… Thanks."

Ainz mentally sighed, and kept following Ainzach to question the werewolves, Nabe as usual walking behind him.

* * *

Erina, Armant and Wilhelm, even if they didn't know Momon's fame yet, couldn't help but feel hyped from his speech and the charisma he naturally emitted. With him at the front, they felt like no one could resist the attack.

The queue to the counter was long, but luckily all the guild employees had to do was write their name on a book to register, and telling them the battle formations would be explained during the travel.

When "Wolf fang's" turn came, the employee was the same woman that received them first. She already knew the party, but not the names.

"Your names, rank and job, please?"

"Erina Eldra, electromancer."

"Armant Eldra, I shoot from afar with my crossbow, so a sharpshooter I guess? But I know how to fight with a short sword too."

"Wilhelm Capirossi, knight, but I'm able to do serious fire damage."

She scribbled on a piece of paper for a moment, before handing it to them.

"Give this to the guild employees tomorrow morning to prove you're registered. Be sure to prepare enough provisions for at least a week of travel, and winter equipment. You should prepare your own equipment, because the guild can't afford to give it freely."

Erina carefully folded the paper, and thanked the employee before giving the place to another party. As they were about to leave, the woman called them.

"Wait, the guildmaster would like to talk to you. He's in his office."

Wilhelm thanked the woman, and they went up the stairs to the guildmaster's office. Erina knocked at the door, and waited for an answer. After a few moments, someone inside spoke.

"Enter."

Inside, there was a lot of people. Ainzach, of course, but also Momon, Nabe, and two women. Erina didn't expect them to be here, and she was surprised. Ainzach was behind his desk, Momon and Nabe sat side by side, and the two women in the same manner.

"Keep the door shut please, we don't want anyone hearing us."

Wilhelm turned and got out of the room.

"I'll just guard the door outside to make sure of it."

With the door closing, only Momon, Nabe, the two women, Erina, Armant and Ainzach were left in the room. The guildmaster sighed, and started the conversation.

"Erina, here's Lakyus Alvein Dale Andra, adamantite adventurer and leader of the party "Blue rose". Beside her is Evileye, magic caster of the same party. Lakyus, Momon, here's Erina Eldra, mithril rank, but her party formed by only her, a sharpshooter and a knight defeated more than 150 werewolves and 200 wolves."

Lakyus was a young woman with long blonde hair, green eyes and pink lips that showed a healthy gleam. She was beautiful, but she paled when compared to Nabe. She wore an armor that radiated in a way implying that it couldn't be made with material lesser than gold or platinum, carved with unicorns and a simple ragged grey cape. A huge sword, dark as the night but with white bits was on her back. Evileye, on the other side was very small, as if she was a 12-years old child. She wore a blood red cloak covering her body, and a mask hiding her face.

"Like I said before, the adamantite adventurer parties "Darkness" and "Blue rose" will be the spearhead. However, as your party already fought them Erina, I'd like you to provide advice concerning the strategy to use. You already fought them, so I think your experience will be useful. Therefore, I'd also like to be part of the spearhead."

Erina thought for a moment. Being a part of the spearhead meant that she would be seen. But from what she knew about this place, nobody knew about the Rida kingdom, so the possibility of someone recognizing her was very small. One of the bad cases could be that one of the spies sent by a Rida nobles would recognize her, but that wouldn't change much. The worst thing would be her being recognized, and someone trying to blackmail her, or Armant. She was part of the Electra royalty, and the noble factions opposing the power of the king would use this information as a leverage to put pressure on her father, the king. Sending the heir to the throne adventuring, where he could die at any moment, was a strong argument after all. Having made up her mind, she answered.

"I, no, we can help you for the strategy, but I don't want us to be known to the public, it would bring too much problems. But even so, I doubt I have more battle experience than you, so I'm not sure we'll be able to help you."

Ainzach and Lakyus smiled, while Momon's and Evileye's face were covered, hiding their expression. Nabe kept her poker face.

"That's good, I'm relieved…"

"Huh?"

Ainzach chuckled.

"Well you see, one of the conditions to be a high-level adventurer is not to seek glory at all costs. Of course you can, but statistics showed that most of the times these types of adventurers die because of their greediness. In a way, it's good to hear you're not that type. And also, you may have not as much experience than "Darkness" and "Blue rose", but a simple detail in the most crucial moment can change the issue of a fight."

Erina smiled as well, while Armant had a proud expression on his face. Ainzach took out a bottle of ink, a sheet of paper and a feather to write.

"Now, tell us everything…"

"Well, what can I say…"

Erina put her hand on her chin for a moment, thinking.

"They employed a wave strategy. Luckily, we found a church with a chokepoint, but before that they tried to overwhelm us with numbers. Some tried to bypass Wilhelm to attack me, but I managed to take them out. Also, there were three types of enemies. Wolves, normal werewolves, probably former villagers, but also werewolves with armor fitting their bestial form. The ones wearing armor were the less numerous, but they knew how to fight, and even martial arts. Wilhelm, despite his full-plate high-quality armor took some serious hits. Maybe it was because he was angry, but their leader did not seem to use complex strategies. Ah, and a last thing, they weren't all in the village. Most of the enemies came from the surrounding forest when their leader howled."

Momon, Lakyus, Evileye and Ainzach fell deep in thought. After a while, Lakyus spoke.

"We cannot risk sending a small force to bait all the enemies and then charge, it's too risky and we would probably face an ambush from the enemies outside the village. What we could do however, would be to send rogues, assassins and thieves adventurers to kill the most important people in the village. With their command chain disrupted they will probably charge in a big pack. After that, we charge, kill them before they can react, put barricades between the houses and then hold them when the enemies surrounding the village come for us."

Ainzach and Evileye nodded, but Erina reacted.

"What about the people inside? We're not sure if they're all werewolves. Are we just going to slaughter them? Families? Children?"

A sad expression appeared on Ainzach's face.

"Unfortunately. Imagine if we let even just one of them alive. In five years, maybe ten, the cursed child will hunger for human flesh, and may start another tragedy. We can't afford to let that happen again. We must be merciless."

The picture of the little goblins she literally fried to death came back to her mind. Her resolve wavered, but Armant who understood what she thought put his hand on her shoulder, showing his support. Erina put her hand on his, smiled, and looked at the other people in the room.

"I guess it's us or them. Hard decision, but it's necessary. Fine."

She breathed deeply, steeling her resolve. She understood that it was necessary, but the thought of killing children, be it humans or not, made her think about the parent's feelings. And what she pictured, the pain, the grieving, could not be described in simple words.

"Is there something else?"

"No, you can go. Tell to Wilhelm, your knight, what was told there."

Having received the permission, she said goodbye before leaving with Armant.

* * *

The rest of the day was spent on checking their equipment. Erina was just sitting on a bed, with her [Staff of wisdom] laid on her crossed legs. Just as metal could be bent, the magic formations on a magic staff was used to catalyze mana, and could be deformed by an intense flow of mana. And the fight with the werewolves was a tough fight. For Armant and Wilhelm, she simply sat there with closed eyes, but for her inner magic sight, the world was dyed in black and white, but also electric blue streaks of mana floating in the air. Focusing, she gathered it to repair the magic formation on her staff.

Armant was sitting at a table, working on his crossbow. He wore strange looking glasses, but those were simply magnifying glasses, so he could work on the intricate mechanism of his crossbow. A leather pouch with a lot of strange tools lied on the table. Occasionally, he would swear and change the tool he was working with. At the end, he replaced the tiny magic crystal powering the mechanism and straightened his back, satisfied. Standing up, he looked in the room but only Erina was here, lying on the bed, writing on a small book. It seemed she finished working on her staff too. Wilhelm was nowhere to be seen. Looking through the open window, he was shocked when he realized It was past noon. His stomach growled, reminding him that he didn't eat yet.

"Where's Wilhelm?"

Erina finished writing a sentence, before she raised her head and looked at Armant.

"Hmm? Oh, he had to find some oil to polish his armor and he said he would need some time, so we could eat without him. You were so focused on your crossbow you didn't even register that?"

"Hey! You're the same with magic!"

They both grinned at each other. Indeed, if there was one thing the brother and the sister shared, it was their passion. Erina could spend hours looking at the mana floating in the air, manipulating it with her innate talent, she never grew tired of this. When Armant was little, he would sometimes break apart some machine in the palace, to see how it worked and try to repair it back. Needless to say, a lot of locks, clocks and even ballistas and magic cannons suffered his curiosity and where found in pieces when morning came.

They went to eat, and then bought the provisions for the journey to come. As they would participate in two or three big battles, they bought so much consumables they spent about fifteen gold coins. Their bags were filled with rations, potions, magic grenades, scrolls and wands. Wilhelm came back in the evening, his armor all clean and polished.

This night was strangely calm in E-rantel today. Usually, the drunkards would party until late, but the sudden activity of nearly all the town's adventurers and its reason during the day, the werewolves, put people on the nerves, and even the dumbest person understood the the matter was very serious if so much adventurers were involved.

* * *

When dawn came, in contrast with the calm night, the streets which should have been empty at this hour were bustling with adventurers walking toward the eastern gate of E-rantel.

In front of the gate, there were a few wagons where adventurers had already begun putting their backpacks, some were already ready and were waiting for the convoy to depart. Most of them were nervously twisting their hair, fidgeting with their weapon, as the fights to come would be big ones.

Finally, "Darkness" appeared, with "Blue rose" walking behind. The conversations gradually stopped. Understanding the adventurers were waiting for some sort of inspirational speech, Momon stepped forward. Deep inside, Ainz was sweating mentally.

' _What the heck am I supposed to say?! I'm not prepared for this!'_

"Hum… Hello, everyone!"

The crowd was dead silent, waiting for Momon to continue.

' _What can I say?! Damn! If only touch-me was there, he was the best at making inspirational speeches… Wait, touch-me?... Hum…'_

Momon cleared his throat, and raised one arm, pointing at the sun peeking from the horizon.

"This next week, the fights are going to be harsh. Look at the sun, it is us! We will bring light to the darkened part of the kingdom. They think we cannot beat them. They think we are weak humans. But we are not weak humans. We. Are. adventurers. We specialize in killing their kind, and we do it so efficiently they have to hide from us. It will not be easy. It will be a long job. It will be a terrible war. Yes, it is a war, fellow adventurers. It is a war to protect your friends, your family! But in the end, we shall march through terror to triumph!"

The adventurers erupted in war cries, shouts of admiration, weapon banging against shields, spells cast in the air and a general feeling that no monster could stop them.

' _Touch-me… Sorry for using your speech, but you're really the best at this type of things.'_

Touch-me said this speech back in Yggdrasil, when the Ainz Ooal Gown guild had to defend from an attack made of more than one thousand players and npc mercenaries, and did it successfully. Ainz just changed some words to adapt to the situation, but the effect on the crowd was nearly magical. Everybody got a new combative spirit, their mind cleared of any worries.

Erina, Armant and Wilhelm were equally hyped as everybody else. In this general feel of invincibility , the convoy set forward the first totally infected village.

* * *

All the adventurers were walking in front of, behind and alongside of the convoy. There were four wagons. Three to store all the adventurer's equipment, and a big carriage where "Darkness", "Blue rose" and "Wolf fang" were discussing of the strategy.

"We have two adamantite adventurers team, five orichalcum teams, twelve mithril teams including Wolf fang, thirty-two platinum ranked teams and fifty-four gold ranked teams. Even with around 530 adventurers we can't just charge immediately. If we make the adventurers face normal humans, their combative spirit will weaken and their morale will plummet. We must somehow make the werewolves change into their bestial form before we attack them. How many did Ainzach gave us?"

At Momon's question, Evileye took out a metal box from under her seat. She opened it and showed the content to everyone inside. It was filled with bluish moon crystals the size of a finger. Gagaran, which Armant was sure was only pretending to be a woman, spoke.

"Can't we just charge them? We know they're werewolves."

Lakyus smiled.

"Gagaran, not every adventurer has a will strong as yours. In fact, a lot of E-rantel's adventurers come from the nearby villages. They won't attack their families, even if they are werewolves. However, if they can't recognize them, it should be good."

Erina felt kind of bad about lying to them, but Armant' sense of justice kicked in.

"We can't just lie to them like that!"

Wilhelm had a sad expression too. He felt bad too, but he understood It was necessary.

"Would you shoot your sister, even if she was a werewolf?"

"No!... No, I wouldn't, sorry. Ignore what I just said."

Armant calmed down, and slumped back in his seat. Evileye looked at Erina.

"We will use those moon crystals, but how? Maybe levitate them above the village, then shoot them to make them explode? Erina, you're an elementalist, right? Could you make them levitate with wind magic?"

The spell **[Levitate]** is a second-tier wind magic spell. It only works on small objects, but it wasn't as efficient as the fifth-tier **[Telekinesis]** spell. But to avoid busting her cover, she would have to do with **[Levitate]**.

"I'm more an of an electromancer, specialized in electric magic, but I know of some spells of other elements. Alright, I'll do it."

Gagaran grabbed her war hammer, excited.

"Now we just need to get them out of their houses. No point in lighting those crystals if the light won't reach them. Shorty, can't you do some magic show to grab their attention?"

The mask covering Evileye's face hid her expression, but everyone on board could imagine the frown on her face.

"If Nabe and Momon can help me, I can."

With the help of Darkness, everything seemed feasible.

"Let's tell the others at noon."

The carriage became silent, everybody thinking about the upcoming fight.

* * *

When the convoy stopped for everybody to eat, the two adamantite teams, Darkness and Blue rose came out and explained the plan to everyone. It seemed like a solid strategy, and most of the adventurers were happy with it.

First, assassins, thieves and rogues would be sent to scout the area and kill the important enemies. After that, the first charge would be just a big clump of people running, but the barricade building would have to begin as soon as the fight begins. They would stay in groups, because even for the most experienced adventurers, a werewolf can be a tricky opponent, and they weren't used to using complex formations like in the military. After that, they would have to hold the barricades when the enemies surrounding the village attacks. The first fight would be done by the adamantite, orichalcum, mithril and platinum adventurers, while the most numerous, the gold adventurers, would build the barricade and hold it until the adventurers inside the village are done.

Once the whole group finished resting, they prepared for combat. They were close to the first infected village, and it was time to send the assassins. Tia and Tina, the twin assassins from Blue rose, were sent inside the village to kill the village chief, while the other stealthy adventurers were sent to scout the area. It took only one hour to get the job done, proving their efficiency. According to the reports, the village was surrounded by fields, but there was no protective wall and there was a hill nearby. The werewolves surrounding the village were all staying in a large cave system under the hill.

The whole group advanced, avoiding the hill and closing on the village entrance. Following the strategy, Evileye cast a few **[Fireball]** spells and a **[Crystal beam]** above the village. Alarmed by the sound and the light appearing in the sky, the villagers got out of their home, curious about the army of adventurers closing in. A few of them were already suspiciously trying to hide back inside. Erina cast **[Levitate]** on a few moon crystals, making them fly above the crowd and Armant shot them with his crossbow. The blinding light made their vision go white, while the call of the moon made werewolf features appear on their skin. It only took half a minute for all of them to transform. While they were still stunned by the sudden transformation, the whole adventurer's army charged. Momon's huge blades cut a lot of them in half, not leaving them any choice. Nabe's and Evileye's magic took them out in huge clumps, while Lakyus, Gagaran, Tia and Tina tore their way through the crowd of werewolves. The rest of the adventurers followed, crashing into the werewolf crowd like a furious wave.

Half of the werewolves had been already slaughtered when they realized the difference in strength and started howling, calling for help. Numerous howls answered from the hill, and a huge group of werewolves came out, followed by normal ones and even some more powerful monsters, like moon spirits and wild mutated wolves.

Thanks to the barricades formed by carriages, tables and all kind of furniture the gold adventurers found, they could not help their kinsmen and tried to tear the barricades apart from frustration. The magic barrage cast by all the high-ranking magic casters utterly destroyed the werewolves' vanguard, shocking them and leaving them exposed to the adventurer's counter-attack. All the werewolves inside the village had been killed, so the stronger parties could get back on the front.

From the beginning of the battle, it only took half an hour for it to end. Blue rose and Darkness were uninjured, while the orichalcum and mithril adventurers had a few wounds. The adventurers who took the heaviest toll were the gold adventurers. A few of them died when an armored werewolf smashed a barricade with a war hammer, allowing them to pour in.

The adventurers organized and took their turns to rest, while Darkness, Blue rose and Wolf fang got back on the carriage, discussing the reports. Momon was the first to give his opinion.

"It was quick, and they could not organize themselves thanks to the lack of leadership. Overall, I think we did pretty good."

' _Ha. It reminds me of the enterprise meetings we had each year…'_

Despite the victory, Lakyus looked worried.

"But a few of them escaped, they will be prepared next time…"

Gagaran suddenly bursted in laughter. All the Blue rose team looked at her with a surprised face. When she calmed down, she looked at Lakyus with a smile on her face.

"Are you serious Lakyus? Look at how we annihilated them! They didn't stand a chance! Even if they prepare themselves we'll just go through them like a hot knife through butter! Even if they prepare, we have Momon and Nabe, the heroes who didn't break a sweat when facing two skeletal dragons!"

The young woman sighed, moving her sword in a more comfortable position.

"Well, it's true, but…"

Momon cleared his throat, drawing the attention of everybody in the carriage.

"We should go now. The longer we wait, the more time they have to prepare."

Everybody nodded, and the whole adventurer's army walked in the direction of the next village.

* * *

On their way to the second village, the army got attacked a few times. It was mostly werewolves or other animals related to the night trying to burn or destroy the carriage filled with the adventurer's gear, but adventurer are no normal humans. The attackers didn't even get close before they were spotted by the various rangers, druids and assassins, and shot down by a merciless magic bolt or an arrow. It was just after one of those raids.

Having killed one who was trying to run away, Armant put back his crossbow on his back.

"They're getting desperate… They don't even try to attack us adventurers, only our supply wagon."

Wilhelm, beside him, put back his axe on his belt when the danger got dealt with.

"Well, it's understandable. We literally slaughtered around two hundred of them today with ease. If I was at their place I would have done the same, or ran away already. I guess the person leading this operation is someone who can't accept defeat. Or who is trying to hide a trump card by making us think they're weakened."

Erina came from behind a tree, having just fried a mutated wolf. The beast was enormous, at least two meters in height, but a simple **[Thunder bolt]** followed by a **[Thunder spear]** made quick work of the beast, paralyzing and then piercing its skull.

"We mustn't be carefree. A cornered rat will always fight back after all…"

Armant and Wilhelm nodded in agreement, and the convoy resumed its journey in the cold but sunny winter weather.

* * *

They arrived at the next village the next day, in the evening, and just like last time, the stealthy adventurers were sent as scouts. This time, the adventurers were expected. There was a hastily-built wall between the houses, made of wooden furniture and wagons, and there was a lot of werewolves already transformed inside. Various traps had been also prepared, like pitfalls with wooden stakes, thin ropes activating a crossbow placed not far, etc…

But all the people gathered here were seasoned adventurers, and those traps were things they already knew for the most part. Some intelligent monsters protected their dens with traps like these, so they knew how to handle them.

These protections were nothing against Tia and Tina, the two assassins. They jumped over and avoided them with ease, and the former chief of this village never got the chance to realize he got assassinated.

When the assassins and rogues came back and the army made its way to the village, all the werewolves still in their human form transformed. They knew what happened to their previous kin who didn't had the chance to defend themselves. It seemed like all the werewolves, including those who were supposed to hide, were in the village, to maximize their chance of winning.

This time, the adventurers advanced more carefully, as they had to avoid the traps. Only one careless gold adventurer fell into a pit, but he was rescued in extremis by his teammates. Once in front of the makeshift barricade, the magic casters used fireballs to blast it apart. The wooden furniture couldn't withstand the blows, and what wasn't destroyed started burning.

Like last time, Darkness and Blue rose initiated the fight, by tearing their way through the crowd. The adventurers followed, killing the wounded and attacking the others.

The battlefield was filled with werewolf corpses, cries of pain, shouts of frustration, howling, metal clanking against metal and light coming from various spells. It wasn't as easy as the first time, because the werewolves were ready and fought even more desperately.

What was disturbing for the adventurers were the smaller werewolves. They knew they were former human children, and were transformed into werewolves, but killing children was not something easy for most of the adventurers. They hesitated, arguing inside their minds if they should do it, and a lot of adventurers got wounded by that hesitation. The younger werewolves used this occasion to pounce at them, aiming for the human's throat.

Thanks to, or because of the fact that they were in mortal danger, they came back to their senses and slashed, crushed, shot, burned, froze the small werewolves. That left a bitter taste in their mouth. No one here wanted to kill children. Of course, there were some degenerates who secretly liked it.

There were also bigger monster related to wolves, or night. Moon spirits, ghosts of women in white dresses and a lantern in one hand, Barghests (huge, black dogs) and wargs. But thanks to the presence of the adamantite and orichalcum adventurers, these monsters that would normally be a part of the extermination quest given only for the strongest adventurers, were dealt cleanly and efficiently.

Given that there was no need to build a barricade, the gold adventurers separated into two groups to flank the werewolves, adding to the chaos of the battle. Slaughtered from the front, attacked from the flanks, it didn't take long for the werewolves' morale to break, and for them to try to run away. When they saw this, the werewolves clad in armor turned berserk. Their eyes turned blood-red, their muscles ripped their clothing, and they attacked everybody around them, including other werewolves.

With the help of the higher-levelled parties, it didn't take long to kill them. Some houses were burning, cries of pain were heard from wounded adventurers, the blood was permeating the soil and the air was filled with the stench of death.

As they were twenty-six dead adventurers this time, and the fight was much more intense than the first, they left the village for a plain nearby to bury their dead and to rest. Now that there was no point in surprising the werewolves, the adventurers could take their time to rest. They stayed there for the whole day and night, exhausted.

For the next four days, they walked to the remaining two villages, which were only one hour of walking apart. One of them was Gerlo, the village in which the female priest had family. But this time, Tia, Tina and all the stealth-based adventurers made a strange report. Both villages were empty. The houses were devoid of life, and not a single living being was there, be it human or animal. However, they saw a lot of foot prints go from the village to the north, with traces of cart wheels. The adventurers were confused, and didn't really know what to do, except following the traces. Inside the central carriage, Darkness, Blue rose and Wolf fang were discussing about it. Tia was talking about her findings.

"Should we follow the traces? It could be a bait to trap us. Even if we have a number, a few boulders into a valley can completely disrupt us, and an attack at that time would be devastating."

Evileye sighed, looking through the window at the empty village.

"What else can we do? We don't know where they went, only the direction they took. They probably fled when they heard their forces in the previous village got annihilated, but where would they flee?"

Momon seemed to be thinking, one hand rubbing where his chin should have been under his helmet. The mind of Momonga, the experienced PVP players was reminding himself of similar situations with the past, with his friends.

"Either they run away from us, either they search for a better place to defend. I can only think of these two cases."

Lakyus took out a map, and put it on the ground.

"Are there any defensive structures in the region? The lord's castle, or an abbey?"

As they were looking at the map, someone knocked on the carriage's door.

"Yes?"

"There's a castle guard, he has something to tell you, miss Lakyus."

* * *

A few minutes after the interruption. There was Lakyus, Evileye, Gagaran, Tia and Tina, Darkness and Wolf fang alone with the exhausted city guard in the carriage. He was panting, trying to catch his breath. He wore a simple breastplate over a coat of arm with his lord's heraldry, he was holding an iron sword broke in half, and did not seem to want to let it go. There was a lot of blood on him, but he did not seem injured, only tired. He looked young, barely twenty years old.

When he sat for a few minutes and drank, he finally started talking.

"You're… You're adventurers, right? Are you here to save us?"

"Save you from what? The werewolves?"

"Yes!"

The man seemed feverish when he heard the word. He was sweating buckets, but Erina couldn't tell if it was from exhaustion or fear.

"Just tell us what happened. Calm down."

Momon talked in a deep, but reassuring voice. From his charisma, the man inhaled deeply, taking control of his emotions.

"I'm Lukas. It was just yesterday. A huge crowd of villagers came, and they asked for refuge because bandits raided their village... Our lord is a compassionate lord, you see? He immediately told us to open the gate, and went inside the castle to discuss with the two village chiefs. We gave them food and water, and opened the barracks for the night. But when night came…"

The man shivered. What he had seen there probably traumatized him.

"All the refugees, they turned into… Monsters. They looked like wolf walking on their hind legs! It was so sudden, we barely had time to react. We fought them, but they played with us like we were toys, they were everywhere, and we didn't know where to face our shields. My best friend, just… Transformed, too, and he was trying to eat me! It turned even worse when at least a quarter of the guards turned into werewolves too. That's where everything broke. We were barely holding the important buildings, like the armory and the food reserve. I was defending the armory with the lord and his last elite troops... Full plate armor! They wore full plate armor, but this barely gave them a full minute more of surviving against those beasts. When the lord got his head tore apart from his body, I… I fled. I just dropped my shield, and ran through a window. Gods, those cries behind me… I hid in a crate, when the battle was over, I just ran to the hidden exit as fast as I ever ran… But it was normal, right? We had no chance of surviving, it was the only logical solution to survive, right? I didn't run away, I just chose the best way to survive. Yes, that's definitely it!"

Lakyus put her hand on the young man's shoulder. He immediately flinched and raised his broken sword. She put her other hand on the raised arm, gently pulling it down.

"We're not enemies. We're here to kill them. Did you see other monsters in the forest?"

The voice still trembling, his eyes were full of fear.

"O-Other monsters? You mean, goblins and such? No, we regularly patrol the forest to be sure that they don't make dens there."

"Alright. Can you lead us to that secret entrance?"

His eyes widened.

"To go there? Are you crazy or something? Never! I'll never go back there! I'm done being a guard! And besides, the lord's son was my friend! That's why I knew about this way, but I'm not gonna break my promise with him. I may be a coward, but I'm not a traitor!"

He was forcefully trying to free his hand, which Lakyus was still holding. It seemed that he was still under the shock, and didn't realize the adventurers here were a force to be reckoned with.

"You may not be a traitor, but you can be a savior. Imagine, if there are still some humans alive inside, this entrance would give us precious time to save them. Do you want to condemn them? Because if we have to search for it ourselves, or siege the castle, it's going be too late."

He continued to struggle for a while, before he dropped his shoulders and sighed.

"I guess I have no choice… Plus I really want the lord's son to be alright. I fled, but I remember a report to the lord said his son barricaded himself with some other soldiers in the treasury. Could you check if he's still there? The treasury is closed by a door reinforced with orichalcum, so it shouldn't be destroyed yet."

Mentally, Ainz chuckled. He could imagine the quest window already:

 _Quest: Save the lord's son, barricaded in the treasury._

 _Reward: Hidden way in the fortress discovered + guardsman Lukas' appreciation + 50 coins + 1000 XP._

 _Level recommended: lvl.15_

Deep in his memories, it took him a while to realize people were looking at him.

"What about you, mister Momon? What do you think we should do?"

"Huh? Hum, I think we should send Tia and Tina beforehand by the hidden passage. They open the gate, we go in, we close the gate to avoid an attack from behind and then we do our job."

Lakyus let go of the guard's arm and looked at her team. Gagaran smiled, and the twins were cheerful.

"You're the leader, Lakyus. You decide."

"Yeah, if it's just infiltrating the fortress, it's going to be child's play!"

"No problem for us!"

Lakyus chuckled, a little embarrassed.

"I guess we'll go for that strategy. Let's go, the sooner the better."

* * *

One hour after. They walked through a forest until they came in a plain, with a huge castle in the middle. There were a lot of rocks on the ground around it. They stayed in the forest to stay hidden, while Blue rose, Darkness, Wolf fang and the guard watched the castle. Armant seemed curious.

"Why those rocks?"

The young soldier kept looking at the castle but answered.

"To repel siege equipment. Siege towers, battering rams… But it should give you cover as you don't use such equipment."

He was much calmer than before. That was due to Momon taking out a mind-effect repelling potion and giving it to him in the carriage. In the game, all it did was to undo any mind-affecting such as stun, mind-control or illusions. But in this world, it seemed to act as a bravery potion, giving him enough courage to get a hold of himself. Thanks to this, he explained to the adventurers where was the mechanism for the gate and how to operate it. The people guarding the walls armed with bows and crossbow were werewolves. It seemed they didn't even try to hide their nature anymore.

They came back to the forest, still undetected. Every adventurer prepared themselves for the battle. Magic buffs, potions, and mostly coating their weapons with liquid silver. Tia, Tina and the young guard went deep into the forest to the hidden passage.

The twin assassins followed the guard until a ruined stone shack in the forest. Half of the house was tore down, and the other half was filled with vegetation. The man went inside and lifted a part of the floor, revealing a tunnel going deep into the ground.

"The other side of the tunnel is opening to the castle's water reserve. I went through the basement, but you should be able to climb up the well. Good luck!"

Without a word, they went inside, while the young guard closed the trapdoor and went back to the adventurers. The tunnel was made of stone bricks, and there was no light. Relying on the assassin senses more than their sight, they followed the path for a while. Finally, they saw some light. They arrived at an underground lake, and a circular opening up in the ground lit the place.

There was a carved path with a reinforced door on the side, it was probably the path the guard took to flee the place. But the twins were more interested in the well. Listening, they could hear nobody outside, so it was a good time to climb up. Tia took out a roll of rope, with a hook at the end. She threw it to hook the side of the well, and they climbed up.

Tina looked up the side of the well, only revealing her forehead and eyes outside. The well was placed in a corner of the fortress. The werewolves looked on high alert, but they only looked outside the walls. However, something was concerning. There were a lot of werewolves in grey robes, placed in a circle, and they were conducting some sort of ritual, with a lot of live humans at the middle of the formation, sitting on the ground. They seemed strangely calm. The door to the inside of the wall was guarded by a single werewolf. He was still wearing a tunic partially torn with the lord's coat of arms, so he was a former guard here. Using **[Lurk]** and **[Silent step]** to be as stealthy as possible, they approached the door, running and lurking between every crate, barrel or cover possible.

Hiding and moving undetected would be practically impossible with so many people in the courtyard, but it wasn't for nothing that Tia and Tina were adamantite adventurers. The werewolf guarding the door to the inside of the wall realized he was being attacked, but too late. Tia jumped on his back, and slit his throat in a swift but precise movement, while Tina caught his corpse before he fell. She searched the body for the key, unlocked and opened the door. Tia pulled the body behind her, and they closed back the door. It happened in the span of about ten seconds, and nobody noticed the guard's disappearance.

Inside, they dispatched a few other werewolves who didn't expect such an attack. A thrown knife there, a well-placed dagger hit, strangled, etc… The ways to kill the twin assassins knew were countless.

It seemed the werewolves didn't think someone could go that far undetected, because there were no guards in the room with the gate opening mechanism. The twins turned the wheel unlocking the gate. The sound of the metal bars sliding back into the walls finally alerted the werewolves, but it was too late. War cries were heard, as the adventurers ran to the unlocked castle gate.

* * *

Erina, Armant and Wilhelm ran along the others to the unlocked gate. Gagaran and Momon used their strength to open the gate to the adventurers. Inside, the fight had barely begun but it was already chaos. Former humans were shooting arrows from the walls, and a group of werewolves in grey robes were conducting a ritual in the middle of the large court they were in. One of them, holding a metal staff and a chest laying on front of him, shouted to stall the adventurers. Strangely, the humans in the middle of the formation were calmly waiting, looking at the commotion with an uninterested gaze.

The castle was divided in four parts. The part the adventurers came from, the southern gate. On the left, the west, there were two huge buildings. From what the guard said, they were the armory and the food reserve. On the right, the east, there was a long building, the barracks. In front if them, in the northern part, there was the dungeon itself, where the administration of the land was conducted and where the lord and his family lived.

As soon as the fight started, a huge number of werewolves started pouring out from the armory and the dungeon. Other, scarier monster also appeared.

Erina used her spells to fry, electrocute, and paralyze her enemies, Wilhelm left deep, burning wounds with his axe and Armant shot his crossbow so precisely it was almost one-shot one-kill. As usual, it was Blue rose and Darkness that initiated the fight. Their strikes left no one alive, and their magic engraved fear in the normally fearsome werewolves.

The two parties had been fighting for five minutes when a shout was heard. It was what seemed to be the head of the werewolf priests conducting a ritual.

" **THE RITUAL IS DONE! LET THIS SIGHT SINK IN YOUR HEARTS, HUMANS! BECAUSE OUR GOD IS COMING TO US!"**

 **[HATI HROOVITNISSON! HEAR OUR PLEA! WE OFFER YOU YOUR MORTAL ENNEMY'S FLESH AS A SACRIFICE! AS A RETURN, COME FORTH AND KILL ALL THE HUMANS! SUMMON: HATI!]**

The bright sky turned dark. Clouds came, preventing the sun from lightning the earth. The chest imploded, and a red, gory mass came from it. The humans in the magic formation literally imploded. They turned into white streaks of light, which flew up in the sky. Rain started falling, along with thunder.

Then, a howl was heard. It was not a normal howl, it was as if the very sky was howling. It was heard even up to the slane theocracy. White streaks of light came from the sky, and started congregating on one point on the ground. The adventurers pushed back each other, to make distance with the magic happening. However, the werewolves did not seem as scared as the humans. They were even looking expectantly at the light slowly building up.

Suddenly, the white light warped, changing its shape. It grew in size until it took a canine shape. Then, the light dissipated, a gust of wind came and made everyone cover their eyes. All the werewolf priests died suddenly but nobody cared about them. Because, in front of them the very representation of the wolf god appeared. A huge wolf, six meters in height and as large as a house. Momon, the tallest adventurer, barely came to a third of its leg height.

A deep voice was heard, as if the earth itself was talking. It was the mix between gravel being crushed, and the devil's voice.

" **HHHMM… YOUR SACRIFICE PLEASES ME, HUMAN. I SHALL ACCEPT YOUR REQUEST."**

Hati Hrootvinisson. The name rang a bell in Ainz' mind, and he remembered. That boss monster was a part of a questline pretty popular in Yggrasyl. The players had to defeat Fenrir, a world boss with the help of the NPC god Odin. The trick was that players with negative karma could join their forces with Fenrir, and if they won they would receive the quest rewards and the other players wouldn't. Sköll and Hati Hrootvinisson were level.85 sub-bosses that didn't deal a lot of damage, but could deal a lot of annoying negative effects like stuns, paralyze, bleeding, poison, etc… As the number of players on both side grew, the reward would grow proportionally, giving situations where a fight like that took a whole real-life day, and the players who won could buy a whole set of the best lvl.100 equipment and the best enchantments with it.

Inside, Ainz was relieved. If Fenrir himself had been summoned he was sure he wouldn't be able to defeat it. But Hati, a lvl.85 quest boss… Ainz was lvl.100 but he still wasn't used totally to fighting with two swords, he didn't know any warrior skills and the enemy was a boss. Overall, it could be said that this boss would give him a challenge. Finally.

As the monster was advancing toward the adventurers, two figures parted from the crowd. Of course, they were Momon and Nabe. Intrigued that someone would dare oppose him, Hati stopped. Darkness also stopped. In this absolute silence, both parties were waiting for the other to act. Finally, Momon raised one sword, pointing it at the monster.

"As long as I, Momon the black, and my partner Nabe the beautiful princess are alive, a monster such as you will not live to see the day rise up again!"

Deep inside, Ainz was cringing, but the adventurer crowd cheered, banging their weapons on their shields or the ground, while the werewolves asked themselves if the man was crazy or desperate. Nabe was so proud of being a servant of such a supreme being she authorized herself to smile.

" **INTERESTING. DO TRY TO GIVE ME A PROPER FIGHT, HUMAN!"**

With that, the fight of giants between Darkness and Hati began, and the fight of the werewolves against the adventurers resumed.

* * *

Erina couldn't help but to be amazed at Momon's and Nabe's fight. Despite the apparent difference in size and power, the two adamantite adventurer calmly avoided the hits and strange magic, and striked back when they had the chance. Momon's sword slashes left deep wounds, but not serious enough to kill it, while Nabe's magic made the huge wolf flinch in pain each time it was hit.

But Erina and her team had their own problems to take care of. The courtyard was filled with adventurers fighting against various beasts. A large circle devoid of life was made around Darkness and Hati. Everybody knew, even Blue rose, that they were only ants in this giant's fight.

In raw power, the Wolf fang team could be said to be equal to Blue rose, except that in combat experience, Blue rose was much higher. At least, that's what everyone thought. No one except Momon, Nabe and the eight edge assassin constantly following Wolf fang knew that they hid their true power.

While aiming for a werewolf that jumped at him, Armant noticed someone. At the top floor of the dungeon, a figure, dressed in an grey robe with golden embroideries, was looking at the fight below him. Using **[Farsight]** , he deduced from the man's posture he was a werewolf too. And judging from his equipment, he was probably one of the leaders here.

"Erina!"

"What? **[Static shock]!** "

The spell hit a warg, making the fur on his body burn and stopping his heart by the occasion.

"I saw a guy in the dungeon, I think he's the leader! He was on the top floor!"

"Let's go then! Wilhelm, open us a path to the dungeon!"

As Wilhelm was about to answer, Lakyus appeared beside them. Her huge sword was covered in red blood and other strange liquids. The rest of Blue rose was behind her, fighting the monsters trying to interfere.

"You said you saw the leader? Where?"

"Armant saw him, using a martial art. Wilhelm's about to open us a path!"

Lakyus answered without hesitation. There was a fearsome smile on her face.

"We're going with you!"

"Wilhelm, it's when you want!"

"Yes! **[Furious charge]!** "

The power of the martial art made his leg muscles bulge under his armor. With an explosive power, he raised his shield in front of him and ran through the battlefield, making any monster he encountered go fly in the air. A bhargest that did not avoid in time got literally his head crushed. Erina, Armant, Lakyus, Evileye, Gagaran, Tia and Tina all ran behind him, following the path he created.

Wilhelm ended his martial art in front of the open dungeon's gate. They entered, fighting the few monsters who tried to attack, and closed the gate behind them. The first hall was empty, so they took some time to settle down. Erina had already finished all her mana potions a few days ago, so she could only wait for her mana to be replenished. Lakyus, while using a piece of cloth to clean her sword, talked to Armant.

"Your sister said you saw the leader? Where is he?"

Armant finished reloading a new magazine into his crossbow, and started refilling the empty one with bolts he took from a pouch.

"During the fight, I saw someone at the top floor, watching the fight from a balcony. His robe was gray, but with golden decoration. And from his posture, he was on his wolf form. So, I guess he is a leader of some sort, miss Lakyus."

Gagaran chuckled Tia and Tina smiled while Lakyus looked embarrassed.

"I'm not that old, don't call me miss Lakyus!"

Her cheeks were red, but Armant properly ignored her reaction, proving the difference in maturity between both.

"We should go. The leader is going to try to escape, probably."

And with that, Blue rose and Darkness made their way up the dungeon, with a mortified Lakyus. With a adamantite level team and another team at roughly the same power, the monsters inside were dealt with easily, and it took them merely ten minutes to go to the top floor.

They were in front of a massive wooden set of doors. Tia lockpicked them easily, and they entered. It was a huge room, with banners and a red carpet leading to a throne, where the enemy waited. The banners previously had the lord's heraldry, but black wolf heads had been painted over. Here, there were ten werewolves. Five in heavy metal armor, with various two-handed weapons, and five with grey robes and staves. On the throne, there was a werewolf too, but his fur was covered in silver glowing complex magical writings. There was a wooden staff with a white rock on top of it at his side, leaning on the throne.

"It seems my guests have arrived."

The werewolf on the throne had a deep voice. He rose from the throne, but Lakyus interrupted him.

"You're probably the leader here. Face justice, or answer me! Why would yo-"

 **[Thundersphere]!**

Before Lakyus could end her sentence, a ball of electricity was sent in the group of werewolves. A wolf priest and a warrior got fried immediately, while another warrior fell on a knee, groaning from the pain when the current passed through his armor.

Lakyus looked at her side, and here, Erina was already preparing another spell, Armant was aiming with his crossbow and Wilhelm had raised his shield, advancing toward the werewolves.

Erina raised an eyebrow, looking at her.

"The longer you make them wait, the longer they prepare. They wouldn't summon such a big monster if it wasn't their trump card, that means that's their last struggle. I may not have as much experience as you, but I know that we have to take them out os fast as possible. Do you?"

The leader of Blue rose looked depressed. She wanted to ask about the whereabouts of the other werewolves in the kingdom, but everything Erina has said was true. Despite Erina's lack of combat experience, she seemed very intelligent, at least enough to assess the situation this quickly.

With that, Blue rose joined the fight.

* * *

Momon, the dark hero, had finally defeated the representation of the wolf god. The beast was huge, and his sword strikes left only slashes, but no mortal wounds. He had to jump and use a sword as a gripping point, shoving it deep into the wolf's shoulder. The beast tried to dislodge him, but Momon had the strength of a lvl.100 warrior and he held on. He climbed up to the wolf's head, and shoved his other sword deep into the beast's eye, piercing its brain by the occasion.

Hati, lvl.85 sub-boss, died like that. It slowly fell forward, the earth trembled when he touched the ground, and didn't move anymore.

When they saw that, the werewolves started running away in terror. It was understandable, after all their god had just died in front of them. The adventurers shouted out of joy, and pursued the fleeing monsters. The other beasts, midnight ghosts and wargs didn't care about it, however what they saw was that a monster at least ten time their size got defeated, and were intelligent enough to run away too.

As Momon was stepping down from the wolf's head, Nabe walked to him and handed him his other sword.

"My lo- Huhum, Momon, I saw Blue rose and Wolf fang go inside the dungeon. They were talking about killing their leader on the top floor."

Impressed by her hearing among the chaos there was, Momon nodded.

"Good. Let's go too."

They walked up to the dungeon. There, the adventurers had already opened the doors and were pursuing the fleeing and hiding monsters. Some of them were pillaging the place already. The adventurers had already been made aware of the lord's son which should be hiding in the treasury, so Momon didn't worry about him.

Going up the stairs, killing a few desperate monsters, he finally arrived at the top floor. There, a mithril ranked party was waiting in front of a huge set of doors. There was a electric blue screen-like thing in front of the door.

"What's happening?"

"Ah, mister Momon and miss Nabe, perfect!"

A man in armor stopped banging against the blue screen with his war hammer and turned to face them.

"We're hearing combat inside this room, but this magic shield is blocking the way. I'm trying to blast it apart, but there are two mana crystals inside powering the shield, and we can't reach them!"

Indeed, looking closely there were two blue mana crystals embedded into the wall, linked to the shield by a blue stream of mana.

"Let me do it."

The adventurers walked back a few paces, leaving the place to Momon. The male adventurers in the group were amazed by, even from behind, Nabe was mysterious and beautiful.

In a single powerful slash from his sword, Momon made the mana shield disappear, and the two mana crystals exploded in a white mist.

"Don't enter unless I tell you."

Momon didn't need any more explanation to his acts. The adventurers simply waited here for their hero to come back.

* * *

The room was a total mess, and it was hard to understand what was happening. Five or six werewolf bodies were lying on the ground, with either blood or burn marks. Tia was sobbing and holding in her arms the body of Tina which wasn't moving anymore. Erina had trouble keeping up, fighting four werewolf priests at the same time. Despite her power, the number of spells cast at her gave her barely enough time to defend herself. Lakyus was fighting Wilhelm, which was laughing like a mad man and swinging his axe in a disorganised manner. Armant was lying unconscious on the ground, blood dripping from a wound at his head. Gagaran was following Evileye, trying to squish her under the power of her war hammer.

And sat on his throne, was the werewolf in grey robe, holding his staff. He looked very old, even with fur covering his face. He looked at Momon and Nabe, the newcomers, and chuckled with an evil-sounding voice.

"Aahhh… Hati seems to have failed. Too bad, it was valuable but at least we know it's useless if you're here. Too bad, yes, but it's the end for you. **[Brain corruption]!** "

* * *

 **Hoy there, author here!**

 **I'm on holiday, so I could write that faster than other chapter. I apologize for the long time between each publication, but what can I say? I'm not a quick writer.**

 **This chapter is more action-packed and less centered around Erina and co, and it's waaaaay too long. I'm sorry for the cliffhanger, but there was already more than 11k words, and I don't like too long chapters, so I ended it at the confrontation with the werewolf leader (I don't like cliffhangers, but I think it would have been worse if I stopped in the middle of the action).**

 **Also, I never expected I would write "werewolf" so much times in a single word document.**

 **Anyway, I hope that you liked what you read, and I recommend leaving a comment if you have a question, I answer to all of them by pm.**

 **Next chapter should be shorter and less action-packed, but I plan on doing a description of Erina, Wilhelm and Armant, and of the equipment they're wearing.**

 **Have a nice day/night, and see you next publication!**


	9. Chapter 8: A well-deserved rest

Wilhelm had been fighting alongside Gagaran, Lakyus, Tia and Tina the remaining werewolves in the room. The lycans were proud of their abilities, they were told to be on par with orichalcum adventurers, but their opponent, Wolf fang and Blue rose were at a higher level. And even worse, they were eight of them left, but the adventurers had the same numbers, disabling the number advantage. In only half a minute, two werewolf warriors had been already killed, one decapitated by Wilhelm's axe swing, and another got his head crushed by Gagaran's war hammer. Meanwhile, a third wolf warrior was struggling to stand, with bolts lodged in his legs, and the twin assassins harassing him, attacking the joints of his heavy armor.

The wolf priests were trying to heal their allies, but the assault was simply too violent, and they couldn't cope up with the damage dealt. Seeing that the situation was becoming delicate, the leader used his true trump card.

"Damn you! **[Brain corruption]!** "

Suddenly, Wilhelm turned and instead of finishing the werewolf the twin assassins were facing, he inexplicably hit Tina right in the face with his shield. A crunchy sound was heard, Tina fell on the ground and stopped moving. Lakyus killed her opponent, the last werewolf warrior, leaving only the four werewolf priests alive, only to turn and see that Tia was desperately holding her sister's body in her arms.

Meanwhile, Wilhelm started laughing and ran in Armant's direction. The young crossbowman didn't know what to do, and raised his crossbow at the last moment to protect his head from the horizontal axe swing. The crossbow protected him, but the strength Wilhelm had made the crossbow bounce back from the impact, and hit heavily Armant right on the temple. Feeling weak, Armant looked around for a moment before strength left his legs and he fell unconscious.

Erina shouted out of despair. She wanted to help her brother, but the four remaining wolf priests cast a barrage of spells on her, leaving her just enough time to defend herself.

"Huhuh. Even if I'm old, I will never tire of seeing adventurers desperately trying to protect themselves while their teammates try to kill them. Let's add some chaos… **[Brain corruption]** "

The lycan leader seemed to be some kind of sadist. This time, it was Gagaran who turned around and charged Evileye. The child-like adventurer knew what would happen already and ran away. She didn't want to injure her friend. Wilhelm was searching for a new prey, when he saw Lakyus and ran to fight her. Luckily, it seemed the knight was not doing it out of his own volition, because his hits weren't fast or precise. But Lakyus' huge weapon put her at a disadvantage, forcing her to be on the defensive.

Erina was about to break her discretion rule and leave her protection to her magic brooch, while using sixth-tier magic to wipe the wolf priests attacking her, when she saw out of the corner of her eye Momon, the adamantite adventurer entering the room followed by Nabe.

Trusting him to unlock the situation, she kept fighting the werewolf priests only using third-tier spells.

* * *

After the werewolf leader used his spell, he looked expectantly at Momon, waiting for something. But that something never happened. The adamantite adventurer simply stood there.

"Is something supposed to happen?"

The lycan opened his eyes wide and his muzzle gaping. For the first time in his life, his spell **[Brain corruption]** didn't work. He discovered it when he was still a young werewolf, this talent of his. This spell could bypass any magic protection, and would change the victim's perception. Allies would become enemies, and enemies would become allies. And he could use it three times a day, any more than that would make the spell fail and the caster faint.

And as it was an innate talent, not regular magic, nobody else could use it. Yet, in front of him, the person that should have been attacking his allies asked casually if something should have happened.

"But…No, no, no, no, NO! THAT'S NOT SUPPOSED TO HAPPEN! WHY?! Why don't you attack your teammates? My talent is suppo-"

Momon cut the old wolf's blabbering.

"So, it's a talent, right? Interesting. Nabe, help Erina."

"Yes, Momong- Momon."

It seemed Nabe still had problems calling him "Momon". Nabe walked beside Erina. One of the wolf priests tried to cast a magic arrow on her, but she dispelled it with a simple hand flick. Then, she cast two **[Thunder bolts]** , instantly killing two of the priests. The two others panicked, but it was too late as Erina cast a **[Shock grenade],** paralyzing them both. After that, she simply unsheathed her dagger, walked up to them and shoved it in their eyes, effectively killing them.

Meanwhile, Momon simply walked in the direction of the old lycan. He started to attack, using all the spell he knew, but all of them were either dissipated as soon as they came near Momon, or didn't have any effect at all. Finally, Momon stopped a few paces in front of him and pointed one sword in his direction.

" **[Despair aura: II]** "

A wave of mana was released from the sword, and the lycan leader felt terror as he never felt before.

He could feel the thumping of his heart in his chest, the nails digging into the flesh of his closed fists, the rapid breathing and the sweat on his temples. He had never felt a terror as vivid as today. Finally, he fell unconscious, his brain having decided of the best survival course.

As soon as he fell on the floor, Wilhelm and Gagaran took back the control of their bodies. Lakyus stopped trying to fight the knight, and Evileye stopped running from Gagaran. But suddenly, they felt a pressure so strong, it was as if the whole world was trying to crush them. Turning to face Momon, they were horrified when they saw that he wasn't there anymore, only the very representation of death. A skeleton, wearing clothes as dark as the night, and two skeletal pieces with big red crystals on his shoulders. Lakyus had the time to say "What the-"before the skeleton raised his hand, and spoke in a deep voice.

 **[Mass overwrite]**

Lakyus, Gagaran, Evileye, Tia, Erina and Wilhelm all stopped moving. It was as if they were puppets, and their strings were cut.

"You entered the room, and fought the werewolves. When Momon and Nabe entered, Nabe used a spell to burn the leader alive, and a wind current through the window dispersed his ashes."

Everyone on the room except Narberal answered with the same, zombie-like voice.

"Yes, my lord."

After that, Ainz contacted Shalltear.

"Shalltear, open a gate where I am and tell Neuronist to take care of the person I'm sending. I want to know everything about him."

"Yes, lord Ainz."

A place a swirling black space opened. Ainz lifted the werewolf leader corpse with a single hand, threw him in it and the portal closed. After that, he looked at the unmoving corpse of Tina.

"Now, you dying would be bad for my plans. Since you're an adamantite adventurer, I guess I don't need the [Wand of resurrection]. **[Raise dead].** "

Such a spell would normally leave the person affected unable to do anything but rest for a few days, but Ainz was a lvl.100 necromancer. Raising the dead was his specialty, and it was likely that Tina even gained some stats by being raised from the dead by such a powerful necromancer. She raised to stand still, awaiting her orders.

"Act like usual around your comrades. Now, I believe it is time. **[Mass overwrite: release]**."

Before the adventurers took back the control of their minds, Ainz turned back into Momon, and waited.

* * *

Erina slowly opened her eyes. The last thing she saw was Nabe using probably a fire spell, forcing her to shield her eyes. Despite having just helped her take care of the wolf priests, she had enough mana and concentration to insta-cast such a powerful spell.

Nothing was left of the leader but a pile of ash, which got probably dispersed. Yet, the floor was not burnt. Nabe's control over her mana was truly impressive.

"Is everyone alright?"

Slowly, everyone in the room focused back on Momon, which was the one who asked the question.

"I… I think. At least we are."

Indeed, Erina was unscathed from the fight with the wolf priests thanks to her quick casting time and her protection brooch, Wilhelm took a lot of hits, but his armor proved its efficiency. Only Armant who was unconscious previously had trembling legs as he tried to stand up. Erina quickly came by his side to help him.

The Blue rose team got no serious injury too. Only a few bruises and cuts, except Tina who felt very good, she even felt like she was stronger than before.

"We're alright. Do you think this was the last of them?"

"Like I said before, this was most probably their two trump cards. The invocation, and the mind-affecting spell. I doubt they would have used them if it wasn't the last resort."

Momon's explanation couldn't be truer. Such a powerful monster could only be defeated thanks to Momon. Had he not been there, the adventurers would probably be dead by now. Another adamantite plate team might have been able to do it, but the casualties would be heavy.

"We should go. The other adventurers will explore the castle, but we need to organize them."

They nodded at Lakyus' proposal, and left the room. Outside, the adventurer party waiting for Momon was relieved to see them alright after all the ruckus that was heard inside. Darkness went to the treasury to check is the lord's son was still there, Wolf fang went outside to rest. They felt like something or someone had messed with their heads, while Lakyus took the commandment of the operation in the previous lord's work room.

The remaining monsters were troublesome. Some spirits were hiding in the furniture, forcing the priests to cleanse pretty much everything in the castle to get rid of them. Luckily, there were a lot of priests. Some other monsters went to the basement, forcing the adventurers to go in a dark, cramped place, where an enemy could be lurking in every corner. But for the veterans, their experience had taught them how to deal with combat in such a place, so it wasn't really a problem.

The lord's son was found in the treasury, along with a few household guards. The treasury's door protected them perfectly, and the only damage was claw marks on it.

It took until night time to finish hunting the last monster. As everyone was tired, Lakyus ordered to move the corpses outside, in the plains, and burn them. People groaned, they just wanted to sleep after such a tiring day, but the castle was a good place to rest, and they couldn't afford undead roaming the place. The nobles would probably try to blame the adventurers if they left a castle be occupied by the undead. It took another hour or hard work to move the corpses. Hati's corpse required all the adventurers to chop it in smaller pieces to harvest any valuable part and move it outside. Only the head was kept as a trophy, and mounted on one of the carriages. Finally, a pyromancer used his spells to burn the pile of bodies.

It didn't take long for the adventurers to find a room or a bed to sleep. Twenty adventurers had been posted on the walls to look at the surroundings. Finally, the gate was closed, the solid orichalcum beams slid back from the walls into the gate, locking it and the fort went quiet. The metal stench of blood and death was permeating the place, but the blessings cast by the priests gradually cleaned the air.

* * *

The next morning was filled with the voice of adventurers complaining about various pains due to the intense fight the last day. But this was a common thing as an adventurer, and the alchemy department of the mage's guild had developed a long time ago already a cream that could reduce those pains.

The four completely infected villages had been purged, but there was still the two remaining villages that weren't completely infected yet. Luckily, the guildmaster Ainzach had told already to Lakyus and Momon that the lords of these villages accepted to take care of it with their private guard. Instructions on how to uncover the werewolves came with a small shipment of moon crystals sent to these lords.

The dead adventurers numbered forty this time. A lot of teams lost at least one member, and they mourned during the morning. At noon, most of the adventurers decided to head back to E-rantel. Some stayed back, mostly the mourning adventurers. It wasn't a problem for them because they could go redeem their reward at any time.

They were four days far from E-rantel. On the second day, a harsh winter rain started falling, slowing the convoy. Morale was plummeting with the weather and the fact that the good food had been already eaten. It seemed Hati's head still had some mana inside because despite the weather, the head stayed in a good shape.

The day they arrived at E-rantel, it was said to be the apocalypse of the inns and taverns. Every establishment was assaulted by hungry adventurers, looking for a dry and warm place to sleep. Only Darkness, Blue rose and Wolf fang remained with the various empty carriages and the severed wolf head near the guild's building. Finally, Ainzach came to meet them. He was about to greet them when he saw Hati's head.

"What the… WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?!"

Lakyus smiled.

"Can we speak about this inside? It's kind of a long story."

Momon interrupted them.

"Ah, sorry, I have things I have to attend to. I will come for the reward and the moon crystals later."

Ainzach assured him it was nothing, before sending him off. Blue rose, Wolf fang and Ainzach went inside a private room on the building.

It took a whole hour to explain what happened. Ainzach went from curious, to surprised, to shocked, to relieved when he learned how Momon took out the boss monster. As Lakyus was about to end, Evileye interrupted her.

"I think it's important to notice how the Wolf fang team is powerful. Despite being mithril ranked adventurers, at least in raw power they are on even ground with Adamantite ranked adventurers."

Wilhelm brimmed with proudness, Armant smiled and Erina blushed.

"No, we didn't…"

"I rarely saw someone as precise as Armant with his crossbow, Wilhelm dealt with werewolves at least at the same speed Gagaran did, and you stood your ground alone against four wolf priests who cast third-tier spells at you. That's not a feat every adventurer can do."

Erina raised a hand, about to object, but she didn't. She was humble, but she also knew how to accept the facts. Ainzach intervened.

"If that's true, then indeed it is impressive. We can't give you immediately the platinum plate because you received the mithril plate a week ago, but be assured that I will consider it later. We will handle the wolf head, but for now I think you just want to rest, right? I won't take your time much longer."

Even for teams as strong as Blue rose, indeed the last days were tiring. Before they parted ways, Erina along Wilhelm went to the guild to redeem the reward. They had very little money left, and they needed it to pay for consumables. Meanwhile, Armant went away searching for a tavern or an inn with some free rooms left after the tired and hungry adventurers wave passed.

* * *

He woke up. He tried to move, but he couldn't. There were shackles on his hands and feets, he had something obstructing his view, and a metal band was preventing him from turning his head. He was lying on a stone bed, probably, and he could hear a ragged breathing coming from one side. Strangely, from another side, he could smell a sweet floral fragrance.

Meylig Angry-fang was terrified. Despite being one of the leaders of the Great Pack, he had been toyed with by a mere adventurer, and even worse, a human. Despite having received his master's blessing, his spells had been useless against the towering adventurer walking toward him.

Suddenly, he heard a sound. Steps, slow and steady. The sound of leather being stretched. Clanking metal. And a disgusting wet slimy sound. He felt something gripping his hair, and a strong pull took out the black cloth covering his eyes.

A disgusting creature was holding the piece of cloth, before dropping it on a metal table near him. The monster had a skin the color of a drowned corpse, tight black leather covering small patches of skin and the head of an octopus. He couldn't see the mouth, probably hidden by all the tentacles. It was as if a drowned body had been brought back to life, but fused with an octopus. He was even more shocked when he realized the floral smell came from the creature.

"Hello there, old man. How are you?"

The beast, in contrast with its appearance, had a female voice.

"Who're you?! What am I doing here?!"

The creature giggled.

"My, my, of course presenting oneself when meeting someone for the first time is a given. I am Neuronist Painkill, information gatherer of the great tomb of Nazarick. You are in the intel gathering room. You can't see them, but on your right are my assistants."

Meylig didn't know what to do. The ragged breathing he heard was probably coming from her "assistants", and from how he was set up it was pretty obvious he was going to be tortured. He mustered all of his strength to try to break the shackles, but to no avail. The metal didn't even budge.

"It is no use to struggle, old man. These shackles are made from a metal gathered where even players of the highest levels must fight for their life. You won't struggle for very long anyway. You know, I prefer young men, but I have nothing against old men like you. In fact, the experience they have makes it even more… _tasty._ "

Neuronist cocked her head and her eyes squinted, as if she was smiling. She was trying to seduce him, but the appearance compared with the gesture only made Meylig sick. However, something made him focus back. Players? Did she mean godkins? That there was a place where they gathered and fought? He knew like everyone that godkins are the descendants of very powerful beings, and they always inherit a part of their strength. But he also knew that they were so rare even kings were considered lucky if they met one in their life. If there was a place where multiple godkins gathered and fought, if that was a country it would be without doubt the most powerful.

But something else disturbed him. _Tasty?_ Was he not going to be tortured?

"Oh, you are curious? You see, I'm a heteromorphic race…"

Only now did he realize, but her fingers were long and had sharp nails. She took out a pair of small scissors, and started cleaning them with a piece of white cloth.

"I hate working with dirty tools. And well, since I'm a heteromorphic race, I can eat everything…"

She put back the scissors on the stone table, and started cleaning the needle of a syringe filled with a black tar-like liquid.

"… But my favorite food is… Brains. The ones from young people have usually a sharper taste, but the ones from old people like you… They have some kind of matured taste, like a good old aged wine."

The syringe was put near the scissors. This time, the torturer took out what looked like a transparent box. She tapped on the glass with one of her tentacles, and long black centipedes moved inside. They squirmed around each other as if they were excited and knew that their feeding time had come. Neuronist turned her big milky white eyes to her victim, and giggled when she saw the terror in his glare.

"Oh, don't worry. Lord Ainz ordered me to question you, and I wouldn't even think of disobeying his orders. Poor Shalltear, I would have killed myself right this instant if I knew I rebelled against a supreme being… Lord Ainz may permit me to eat a little bit, but you will be thankful it will be your end at this time."

She put back the box, seeming satisfied.

"Come forth, boys. Time to start working."

The ragger breathing Meylig heard came closer, and he could finally see them. They were humanoids, except their arms were exceptionally long and came to their knees. They wore black clothing, a hood covering the entire head and a collection of torture tools hanging at their hips.

The torture room was designed to prevent sound from leaking, but a cleaning maid was disturbed in her work when a scream of pure terror made her look at the black metal door leading to the room. It was annoying for her, but only enemies of Nazarick were questioned like that. She went on her work, slightly annoyed that her calm had been disturbed by a bug.

* * *

Ainz was sitting on the throne of Nazarick, in all of his majesty. In front of him, Dermiurge was kneeling on the red carpet, while Neuronist knelt just behind the demon.

Deep inside him, Ainz was very happy of being a skeleton. He was sure that if he had flesh, his disgust when looking at the deformed torturer would show. Of course, he didn't hate her, she was a creation of his friends after all, but to put it bluntly, there were more pleasant things to look at.

"Lord Ainz, Neuronist finished her interrogation, and we took some time to sort things out. Is that alright?"

Demiurge didn't have his usual smile. He wouldn't dare trying to mock the supreme being in front of him. Ainz raised his arms, trying to look as regal as possible. Thanks to his countless hours of training, it seemed the movement fitted a person in charge.

"First, raise your heads. I want to talk to you face to face."

Demiurge and Neuronist both raised their heads. The demon made a step to the right, leaving the place for the torturer to talk.

"My lord, I will tell you what the man said, but-"

Ainz interrupted her.

"Before that, Demiurge, I want you to tell me what you think of this when Neuronist finishes talking. I believe in your intelligence, and I want to see if you come to the same conclusions as me."

The skeleton was happy. He was becoming better and better at lying. He couldn't tell Demiurge to explain so that everyone would understand, because the only ones here were him, Demiurge and Neuronist. Narberal was in E-rantel, in charge of things related to Momon while he wasn't there. The idea of checking Demiurge's deductive skills would make the demon believe it was a test, forcing him to be as precise as possible. That way, the poor Suzuki Satoru's mind may know of Demiurge's plan for once. Neuronist knew she wasn't as important as Demiurge, and didn't mind being interrupted by her lord.

"The man said as you already knew he is one of the leaders of an organization, "The great pack". This organization has been dormant for at least a century, not strong enough to tempt anything. But everything changed thirty years ago. A certain werewolf came. He was strong. Very strong. He united the various schools of thought in the pack. He crushed all resistance, gave weapon and armor no one ever saw in this world to his generals, and started gaining supporters a country called the "Algrand Republic". Then suddenly, he disappeared. No one ever learned how did he disappear, but they keep sticking to the plan he devised. And this plan included building up his werewolf army, take over the republic and then conduct a huge ritual. The man we tortured didn't know the ritual or it's goal, he wasn't high enough in the hierarchy to know of it, but he received one of the legendary weapons. He had been given order to infiltrate the Re-estize kingdom, because currently they are stuck in a war of attrition with the republic and are not advancing in the plans."

Neuronist stood there, waiting for her master's reaction. Normally, she would try to tease the person she talked with, even the floor guardians, but she wouldn't dare to try to disrespect her lord. Ainz was rubbing his skeletal chin, thinking.

"Demiurge, your thoughts?"

Neuronist stepped back, while Demiurge stepped forward.

"I think the person who made the plan is a player. He had the same goal as you, but for some reason he disappeared. Or he died. We can't be sure of that. He gave gear much higher-leveled than this world's common gear, and we can't know of the ritual. I suggest doing something about this."

Ainz was still thinking.

' _Hmmm… He disappeared, huh? Or he found a way back to my reality, Demiurge, but you are probably too afraid of even thinking of this possibility. Still, a potential player is worth investigating…'_

"You're probably right. I too thought the same, however that would mean that every mission becomes very risky. Did you think of a course of action?"

Frankly, Ainz already had an idea as for what to do, but he wanted someone as intelligent as Demiurge to confirm his plans. As for the demon, he was smiling.

"I am glad I could get even closer to your plans, lord Ainz, even a little. As to what to do now, I think we should send someone very skilled in intel gathering immediately. Sending someone mediocre or middle-leveled would expose us to the risk of him being discovered, and the player might get even more careful if he's still alive. I think we should send something even better than the eight edge assassins."

Ainz pondered for a moment.

"You mean someone like... Pandora's actor?"

"I believe it is worth the risk, lord Ainz."

The undead fell in deep thought. He considered every floor guardian as his friend's children. It was not an understatement to say he considered Pandora's actor his own son, as he was his creator . The dangers of sending a floor guardian were huge. First, Pandora's actor was not an NPC oriented on combat. If he was found out, against a player his defeat was nearly guaranteed. There was also the possibility of the player not being here anymore, but Ainz had to take the worst case scenario to ensure Pandora's actor safety. Second, a dead NPC could be resurrected,, but the cost of reviving an npc at the 100th level was enormous. Even for the Ainz Ooal Gown guild which was very rich, Shalltear's revival left quite a void in one of the treasury's room.

However, what made Pandora's actor valuable for this mission was his ability to shapeshift. Ainz know there were other shapeshifter monsters , but as he never really used them he didn't know about them in details.

"Hmmm... I need to think. Demiurge, Neuronist, get back to your occupations."

"Yes lord!"

The demon and the torturer left the room in a heavy silence, their steps being the only noise in the throne room.

* * *

It took two more days of rest for Erina's muscle pain to subside. She wasn't as used as Armant or Wilhelm to such a tiring journey. A lot of adventurers who participated got a new plate as a result of their efforts, and the guild took a serious hit to it's finances from all the reward having to be paid simultaneously. But in the end, the werewolf invasion had been repelled, and the bards started writing poems and songs in honor of the participating adventurers.

The kingdom didn't even say anything to the adventurers. The King Lampossa III wanted to, backed by his faction and Gazeff Stronoff, but the noble faction strongly opposed to the idea, claiming that adventurers were no more than glorified mercenaries, and that they could have dealt with the situation at any time with their private troops. Of course, there may have been a bit of truth in that statement, but it was highly unlikely.

Of all of them, Gazeff Stronoff was the one the most infuriated. He was from common birth, and he understood how peasants were seen as mere piggybanks by the nobles. He knew that not all the nobles were like that, but most of them. And that's why he was frustrated. He did the best he could, talked to the King and some rare friendly nobles of him. But all he received was 1000 gold coins, which of course was nothing considering it was to be shared between the hundreds of adventurers who participated.

Instead, the captain Stronoff decided to do something else. It took him a week to set up everything, but in the end he was satisfied of himself.

* * *

For the surviving adventurers of the werewolf fights, the days were spent lazily. Actually, the employers had trouble finding high level adventurers for their tasks **,** as most of them decided they deserved a month of rest after having received a big payment and a new plate.

A week after, just when some of them were considering taking a new quest, they received a surprising letter. In it, it was written that they were invited to captain Stronoff's mansion the same day, in the evening.

Apart from a few that already left the city, they put on their best clothes, left their weapons except for a few daggers here and there, and went to the captain's mansion.

A nice food smell came from the place, and the adventurers were led to the mansion by a few maids hired for the occasion.

In a huge room, a long table with a white table cloth waited for them.

Finally, when all the adventurers seemed to be there, Gazeff appeared. Despite being a noble, he was wearing quite simple clothes, blue shirt, brown pants and leather boots. Actually, even Gazeff wore better clothes usually, but he wanted to show off his origins, so the adventurers would be more comfortable talking with him.

"Hello, adventurers!"

The crowd were silent . Some of them already figured what the captain was going to say, but most of them were clueless.

"Some of you may not know me. But I have doubts about this."

Some quiet laughs were heard. Usually, people boasting about their fame were not looked kindly upon, but Gazeff Stronoff was a man that well deserved his fame, so people didn't mind.

"I am Gazeff Stronoff. Today, I come talking to you not as the warrior captain of the Re-estize kingdom, but as a friend. All of you here participated in the werewolf subjugation. You fought bravely, you shed monster blood in order to protect the common citizen. Well, for the reward too."

More quiet laughs.

"Some of your partners died too, unfortunately."

The atmosphere went back to serious. Some adventurers looked down, with a sad expression on their face.

"You received your reward from the guild, but nothing else. I wanted to reward all of you, in a different way. Tonight, I invite all of you to a feast. Eat and drink as much as you want, laugh, make friends, this feast is my personal way to say thank you, for protecting the kingdom when no one else could."

The adventurers cheered, clapping their hands and whistling. Indeed, a lot of them felt like their efforts went unnoticed. Thanks to Gazeff, finally their pent up frustration could be released a little.

The maids that led them to the mansion came, holding big plates in their hands. Beautiful dark blue and white uniforms, young and fresh beauties, the maids were hired from a merchant known to be picky when hiring maids. Even the male butlers among them made the female adventurer's hearts flutter.

The plate were filled with dishes normally only served to the nobility. Huge steaks made from rare animals, spices from afar, vegetables only found in dangerous places... Such a display of temptation didn't last long before the adventurers ran to the plates, filling their bowls and their stomachs.

* * *

Blue rose and Wolf fang were present, but Momon had something else to do along with Nabe. Some people were sad, they wanted to see at least once the face of the city's hero.

At least, the food and drinks were good, and everyone enjoyed the feast.

Erina was discussing with Evileye about magic. She wore a red dress, covering her body and only showing the upper part of her back and chest. Evileye was wearing as usual a cloak, except it was white and a mask more ornate than the one she usually wore. The adamantite adventurer was a skilled magic user, she could cast spells up to the fourth tier after all, so she enjoyed talking about magic with someone else than Lakyus.

Gagaran was participating in a drinking contest with Wilhelm. The knight wore a dark blue military-like uniform, with a lot of golden and silver decorations, and Gagaran wore a bright green dress. This type of clothing might be sexy at first, but the outline of Gagaran's muscles was showing on the dress, sending contradictory messages to the men watching. The drinking contest just began, and both contestants were still good to go, chugging tankard after tankard.

Armant, despite being 16 years old, was actually quite attractive, and he was surrounded by female adventurers asking him questions and flattering him, hoping for a special gaze or some particular words. There was even a man wearing flashy clothes and make-up in the crowd.

Erina was arguing with Evileye.

"But a circular formation make spells easier and quicker to cast !"

Erina raised a finger with a smug expression

"But you don't need a quicker cast time if you can obliterate your enemy in a single spell! You know, where I come from, there was a very powerful magic caster. She could only cast one spell, **[explosion],** but she could kill very strong monsters in a single shot of that spell!"

Evileye frowned under her mask.

"Even if it was true, what about the magius theory?"

"As long as you have enough mana, you don't have to worry about that."

"And Theon's mana flux? "

"The circular conversion of mana threads can prevent the side effects."

"But that's theorically impossible! Gromal's use of the eight principles proved that there's a limit to-"

Seeing that the conversation was heating up, Gazeff tried to interrupt them duo with an awkward smile . The two mages decided to comply when they saw that everyone was looking at them.

"Well, well, ladies, we're here to enjoy the night, should I show you my collection? I have quite a few magic items that might catch your interest."

Evileye and Erina, both understanding the message, decided to stop the conversation. It was unsaid, but both also decided to postpone it until later.

Gazeff led them to a less crowded room. There were still some people, but they were all whispering to each other and admiring the various objects showcased in glass or hanging from the walls .

Basically, the two magic casters got rid off like noisy children. But they didn't mind, because the collection was indeed impressive. Gazeff was a warrior at heart, and he liked collecting rare magical weapon and items.

Axes with energy crackling around the blade, swords with flames dancing around them, spears made of unknown metal... It seemed the warrior captain didn't like to hoard money and used it to buy those weapons. He spent much time talking to them, telling about his admiration for such rare weapons, explaining what was the effect of each and what he liked about them. At some point, Wilhelm joined them, he was a weapon enthusiast too, and enjoyed talking to a fellow warrior.

Aside from that, there were also rings, necklaces, bracers, all enchanted too. Even for Erina it was impressive. All that gear couldn't be produced in the Rida kingdom, only the wealthiest and the luckiest mercenaries could afford to have gear like that.

But one thing took her attention. Aside from all the jewelled rings, golden necklaces and such, there was a simple ring, made from iron. A very basic iron band, that looked like it didn't belong here. Gazeff quickly noticed her gaze and explained.

"Ah, this one. I received this from the mage's guild when I helped them to kill one of them that mutated from a failed alchemy experiment. They tried to identify the ring, but they couldn't find anything about it. The only thing they're sure about is that it's enchanted somehow, but they don't know how. Frankly, I think they just wanted to get rid of it."

Intrigued, Erina extended her senses to the ring. Indeed, she could feel that an enchantment was reacting to her mana.

" Can I touch it?"

Gazeff, who started discussing weapons with Wilhelm again answered politely.

" Or course, the mage's guild handled it for a long time, so there's no danger."

The young mage carefully opened the lid of the glass box, and took out the ring. She analyzed the ring one last time, just to be sure. Seeing as there was no hostile reaction, she started to move her hand to put back the ring, but something gnawed at the corner of her mind. Curious, she analyzed the ring again. She felt like some force was pulling it toward her hand. In her normal state, she would have already discarded such a suspicious item, but it was too late. The magic had already took its effect, and she put the ring on the middle finger of her left hand.

Gazeff, seeing this, was feeling generous.

"Do you like it? you can keep it, I have no use to it."

Erina was honestly surprised.

"Really? Well, thank you!"

The night went on, and nothing in particular happened. When the party finished, it was very late. Gazeff told a last farewell speech, and everyone went to the establishments they were staying in. A good night of rest was what everyone expected. But not everyone got one.

* * *

Erina was standing in a big dark space. She couldn't see a thing, and the temperature was mildly cold, just enough for her to shiver. From the light breeze she felt, she deduced she was naked.

Suddenly, a light came from above. She could now see what was in front of her. It was very strange. It looked like a mirror, but it wasn't. It was as if a puddle of water was standing vertically, and was reflecting her body.

To her surprise, her reflection started talking.

"Hello, flesh body."

It was a very strange experience, to see your reflection talk to you. She took a while to get a hold back of her thoughts, before answering.

"Hello... Where am I? What are you?"

"You are everywhere, and nowhere at the same time. You are where the conscious and the unconscious merge. If I was a living being, I guess I would call this place a dream."

It took her some time to process her situation.

"Is this real?"

"What am I to tell what is real and what isn't? A dream is real, and isn't at the same time. It is quite confusing, really."

She took some more time to think.

"What are you? My unconscious?"

Erina had heard some times that the conscious and the unconscious were separated, so she mentioned the closest thing she could think of to this situation. The reflection smiled.

"Dear lord, no. You are your consciousness. I am merely the representation you wished to give to me. Or that you unconsciously decided to give me. I am the ring."

She was suspicious before, but now she was sure. The iron ring was sentient, and she was conversing with it right now.

"Why didn't you appear before the others?"

"You are worthy. The other were not."

Erina felt flattered. In a sense, she was glad that her passion for magic was rewarded with a magic being acknowledging her.

"What do you want from me?"

"I will not force anything on you. I am a magic ring. By wearing me, your mana pool will expand as well as your destructive power with magic. However I am but a gear in the clock. An arm from a body. A leaf of the plant. A boot in the costume. Find my other parts, and my powerful granted to you will expand greatly."

Erina gasped. The being in front of her was a part of a set. In Rida kingdom, set items couldn't be produced. They could only be found, and were extremely rare. Despite all the scholars studying them, they could only deduce that the mana of each item interacted with each other, but they didn't know how. It was said that they were only ten of them. Four of them were parts of the armor the King wore to battle, three other were owned by a famous mercenary, and the three left were owned by an important noble family. It was rare to find one, and even rarer to find the matching set items.

"Why are you sentient?"

"Because I am. My creator made me that way. "

Erina couldn't believe her luck. But the being didn't finish talking.

"My other parts are gloves, a belt and a circlet. I can feel one of them far to the east. In human geography, I believe this place is called the Algrand republic. Gather my parts, and the powers of the Reckless One shall be yours"

Erina suddenly woke up. She just has the strangest dream she ever experienced. Looking at her left hand, she saw the bland-looking ring . With a little smile, she went back to sleep. She knew what was her next destination.

* * *

 **Description of the trio:  
**

* * *

 **Erina Electra:  
**

A 26 years old woman. She usually wear green dresses, her favorite color, but now she's wearing enchanted adventurer equipment. While not a world-class beauty, she's not lacking in ant aspect. She has a sharp chin, small nose and blue eyes. Blond hair, tucked in a bob on the left side of the head. There's a brooch holding the bob in place.

[Boots of sure step]: In the middle of the battle, a slip can be fatal! These boots provide better stability. Their are knee-high, made from brown polished leather.

[Vest of destruction]: Enchanted to maximize the damages dealt by the wearer's spells. It is a normal-looking brown vest with greenish cloth on top of it.

[Pants of swiftness]: Sometimes, it is wiser to move away from an enemy quicker, even more for a magic caster. Pants made from dark blue cloth.

[Gloves of mana manipulation]: Gloves enchanted to have a better magic control. Very useful for complicated spells that require a lot of concentration.

[Ring of focus]: In the chaos of a battle, it is needed to stay calm to cast spells. Helps to stay focused even in hard situations. They look like normal silver rings with a little ruby embedded. Erina is wearing two, one on each hand.

[Ring of the reckless one]: Part of a set. Enchanted to expand the mana pool and maximize the damage dealt by the caster. Looks like a simple iron ring.

[Staff of wisdom]: Usually, magic casters don't even need staves to cast magic, but a staff can help a lot. This staff is enchanted to reduce the cast time of each spells by allowing more mana to flow through it. Looks like a polished wooden staff with a mana crystal on top of it.

[Crown of calm mind]: A very powerful relic. It looks like a simple golden band placed on the head. Despite it's bland look, it helps to stay focused and allows the wearer to use the spell **[Overcharge]**.

[Brooch of the Electra family]: A powerful item, only created for the Electra royal family. It is enchanted with a mana shield spell, and can withstand up to sixth-tier spells. It looks like a small flower, made from white gold, a diamond in the center and pearls.

 **Wilhelm Capirossi:**

A 30 years old proud royal guard. He wears an full plate armor covering his body, a shield and an axe. He is named "The volcanic warrior" thanks to his mastery of fire-based martial arts. He had a very common face, brown short hair and brown eyes. There's a scar along his right cheek. Thanks to his extensive training and battle experience, he's very buffed under the armor. He's a head taller than Erina.

[Axe of fire fury]: A weapon found in a ruin. It is enchanted to give additional fire damage when using a fire skill/martial art. The handle is made from a very dark metal, and the head of the axe is made from a red metal.

[Armor of the fire warrior]: Breastplate, pauldrons, arm guards made from Fogzephyr. The metal is very light and bluish, giving a lot of movement ability, yet it is as hard as adamantium. It is also enchanted to reduce the damage received from ice magic.

[Shin guards of the berserker]: Shin guards and metal boots protecting the feet. There are spikes on the boots, and they are enchanted to add damage when kicking the enemy.

[Safety helmet]: When in full plate armor, blunt weapons are your worst enemy. That's why this helmet covering the whole head is enchanted to reduce blunt damage.

 **Armant Electra:**

A 16 years old boy. He has barely reached maturity, but thanks to his daily training he looks more like around 18 years old. He had blond short hair, green eyes and a face with a few freckles. He is handsome to the ladies. He's known to be very passionate about technology and science, and he's adamant to develop them by excluding magic in the process.

[Armant's crossbow]: A crossbow personally engineered by Armant. It can hold a magazine with five bolts in each, and can shoot multiple types of bolts like piercing blots, poison bolts and rarely magic exploding bolts. It uses small mana crystals to power the mechanism.

[Dragon leather armor]: An armor made from dragon leather, thus very protective. There's an enchantment to hide the dragon leather to make it look like a normal leather armor. It is covering the upper body.

[Bracer of the Electra family]: A bracer made from Fogzephyr, enchanted with a mana shield able to withstand up to sixh-tier spells. He is wearing it on his right arm.

[Ring of precision]: Ring enchanted to give better eyesight to the wearer. It's a simple iron ring with a small white rock embedded.

[Boots of sure step]: Even more than a magic caster, a sharpshooter needs stability to aim properly.

* * *

 **Hello there, author here,  
**

 **A chapter less centered on action. I wrote this during a trip on my phone, so sorry if there is a drop in quality. I did my best, but well...**

 **Also, two questions:**

 **1-Given that there is a lot of time between each of my publications, would you prefer me to write a quick summary the last chapter at the beginning of each new one?**

 **2- Do you enjoy the story so far? Personally I do (Well, of course, i'm the one writing it after all) but would you have preferred for something to happen differently? And how? I'm kind of interested in knowing your opinions.**

 **As usual, I hope you enjoyed what you read. If you have any suggestions or questions, I answer to all of them by PM.**

 **See you next publication!**


	10. Chapter 9: A king's will (part one)

**A little reminder: Before Erina, Armant and Wilhelm left for their adventures in the Re-estize kingdom, they fought their way out of an outpost that was taken back by monsters. The next chapter(s) will be about what happened and why.**

* * *

Back in Rida kingdom, three months after Erina Electra, Armant Electra and Wilhelm Capirossi went away on their adventure, leaving the king and the queen to manage the country. Currently, the king was in his palace, up the mountain Riyal was built on.

« Sir, there's a goblin ambassador. »

Merick Electra, the king of the Rida kingdom was surprised. He was having a reunion with his counselors and a few nobles to decide of a new policy regarding the Night's sons, the most powerful criminal organization when a page came to interrupt. The meeting room was luxurious, fitted to be able to welcome prestigious guests, with a big round stone table and chairs, beautiful paintings hanging on the walls and a big window letting the sun in. They were seven people around the table including the king.

"If it's a goblin ambassador, he must come from the Brolur monarchy, right?"

The one who spoke was Kelsig Valra and he was an important noble of the Rida kingdom. The Brolur monarchy he was speaking of was a kingdom founded fifty years ago by a powerful goblin, Brolur. Since that time, each king took the name of Brolur in his honor. Usually goblins tended to stay in a tribe system, but Brolur was an exception, and thanks to him they became a rival to the Rida kingdom, trying to invade the country. But the Ridan defences and troops were powerful, and the neighbouring monster countries didn't dare to help the goblins in their goal.

Despite being goblins, the inhabitants of the Brolur were quite educated in comparison to their kinsmen and the ruling caste maintained a strict but efficient dictature.

"Let him in."

The king Merick made a regal gesture with his hand, showing his ruling experience. Despite his age, his still present muscles and the sharp gaze showed a man in his full capacities. But that was only for the show. In reality, Merick was becoming old and tired, and it was only thanks to his wife the queen, Arlette Electra and her potions that he could walk with his head held high.

The door was opened, and the same page announced the guest.

"Sir Danqito Scrattlepot, ambassador of the goblin king Brolur the 12th of the Brolur kingdom."

From the opened door came a small figure. It was a goblin with an olive-green skin, half the height of a human. He was wearing dark leather pants and boots, a belt with a gold buckle and a black tail-coat over a white shirt. On his nose was hanging a monocle and his head was bald.

He entered and bowed deeply before the assembly.

"Hello, king of the humans, Merick Electra. I come, bearing a message from my king, Brolur the 12th."

The goblin had a crackling voice, and had trouble saying some words. The goblin language was much simpler after all.

It was a curious thing, to see a goblin having such manners, and even more for a goblin country to use such diplomatic ways. But they had no choice. The Brolurian territory was boarded on one side by the Rida kingdom, by an elven forest on the opposite side and a centaur oligarchy on another side. The Brolur goblin kingdom was allowed to be recognized as an official country by these three for various reasons. The first was that the goblins evicted the once violent orc tribes that lived in these wastelands. The second was that the Brolur king "played by the rules" of diplomacy. The third was that the goblins were able to extract a lot of raw resources from their land cheaply, making a good trading partner. The king took a severe face and spoke.

"Speak, messenger. I appreciate a diplomatic mission, but it doesn't change the fact that your kinsmen have tried to invade mine several times by now. Is it another declaration of war?"

In fact, the Ridans were expecting a declaration of war for quite some time for now. Traditionally, the goblins tried to invade roughly every five years, and it had been six years since the last invasion.

"You are wise, king Electra. Indeed, my king Brolur the 7th has declared war on the Ridans. He firmly believes the Ridan territory is his by birth right, and considers the presence of humans a threat to his people. He will accept your surrender if you hand him all the gold your country can produce for the next five years, as well as your technological and magical resources."

The king sighed mentally. The goblins had a true talent to find dumb reasons to declare a war. The nobles and counselors weren't surprised either. It didn't take long for the king to answer.

"So be it. Tell your king we accept the declaration, and will fight back. Now scram, before I order my people to behead you."

The goblin smiled mysteriously.

"Of course, king Merick. But I wouldn't be so sure of myself if I were you."

Still smiling, the goblin went out of the room, leaving the humans to talk about the preparations to do.

Merick Electra raised from his chair, and looked by the window the goblin carriage pulled by wolves going away. The room was silent, the four nobles and the two counselors were waiting for his orders.

"In my name, Merick Electra, and as the king of the Ridans, I order. Summon the army! The time has come to defend our land!"

The six humans raised from their chairs, bowed before the king and said at the same time.

"Yes, my king!"

The goblins were attacking, the nation was in danger, and once more the Ridans would prove their tenacity to the other countries.

* * *

"The king is recruiting! There's a lot of money to make, and you could possibly gain a noble title! If you wish to protect your land and gain honour, go to the nearest barracks to get recruited!"

The king had ordered it, so the nation reacted. In the cities of Riyal, Jodal, Greylo, Drakks and much more, royal spokesmen were shouting at every corner, trying to recruit people in the army. In fact, there was already a Ridan professional army, which usually patrolled the country, but a war was always a good occasion to recruit a lot of people quickly. These people would not be sent to the front, they would be only given guard duties or easy fights, while the more experienced part of the army went into the heat of the battle.

With this system, the veterans would absolutely wreck the enemy army, helped by the divisions of battle mages, war wizards, archers, crossbowmen and cavalry.

Once part of the veterans, the core of the army, a soldier could try to get into a special unit. Special units were divisions of fighters which received a title from the king when they accomplished an impressive feat in battle, and were usually stronger than the regular army.

Just to name a few, the Sun Spirian cavalry, from Sun Spire was known to wreck havoc in the enemy infantry divisions, using lances to skewer them, swords to finish the remaining ones and harvested the light of the sun to cast buffs on themselves, leaving nothing but a trail of dead bodies behind them.

The Sword players of Catal wielded huge enchanted two-handed swords and were equipped with armors only covering the vital parts of the body. That made them the perfect shock troops, dealing huge damage and then moving away before the enemy could retaliate.

The brothers of the phoenix were a mage unit, specialized in fire magic. In a single salvo of fire spells, they could burn hundreds of enemies, turning them to ashes.

The black knights, they had nothing special apart from their all-black armor and their extensive training, but their loyalty to the king was absolute, they would even accept a suicide order without flinching.

The magius engineers. They came from the school of magic engineering of Duralis, and were capable of building the fearsome magic cannons which gave painful headaches to enemy strategists. They were also capable of building defenses very quickly, using golems and magic machines to move stones and build barricades. Occasionally, they would also try out their new inventions on the battlefield.

And a lot more, but the most prestigious one, the most looked up to was the knighthood of the stargazers. One couldn't enter like that in that unit, one had to be selected by the various stargazer inspectors. The stargazers had the knights with the most vitality, the most precise rangers, the most powerful mages, and they always were right at the core of the combat, unleashing their spells and martial arts to crush every bit of enemy resistance without hesitation. It was said that a Stargazer knight could take hundreds of hits before even starting to feel pain. It was said a stargazer wizard could freeze, burn, or melt ten men in a single spell. There were a lot of said things on Stargazers, and a lot of them were true.

From the deepest parts of the countries, the army was summoned near the border, at the fortress city Jodal. Only the minimal amount of guards was left in villages and cities to protect, while the training grounds bustled with clanking metal, shouts, and the magic schools lit by light of various colors and strange sounds magic could produce.

Jodal's walls were built to cover the entire mountain pass leading to the Ridan territory. In addition to the five layers of massive enchanted wall, magic mine fields were covering the plain leading to the city, bunkers where sharpshooters and mages could kill from were carved directly into the mountain. A lot of magic cannons were waiting at the walls, ready to shoot fearsome cannonballs enchanted to explode at contact directly into the enemy army. Behind the walls, trebuchets were ready to launch their ammunition. They could launch conventional stones, but also huge glass balls filled with poisonous gases, explosive jars or worse things. In addition to all those fearsome defenses, there were a lot of hidden mechanisms. The fortress city had so much defenses before coming to the first residential districts that even the all-powerful Uthuestein dark elf empire only reached the third wall before backing away from all the losses and ask for a peace treaty. Jodal was a true nightmare to siege, and the goblins knew this too well. Nevertheless, they always tried. Was it because they were bored? Desperate? No one knew, but one thing was sure, the chances of success were close to none.

Two days after the declaration of war, the first goblin scouts were spotted outside Jodal's walls. There were only goblins mounted on wolves, and the Ridan rangers hidden in the grass, on a tree or even half-submerged into a pond started taking them out with crossbows. It was important to disrupt the flow of information the enemy army could receive. That way, the Ridan forces could eventually prepare ambushes to damage them even before the fight began.

A war was not only physical, but also a psychological war. All the fields outside of the city were burnt without losses, it was winter after all and no major crops were growing. But the impact on the goblins when they would come and see that the food they wanted to pillage was burning would be huge.

* * *

"Finally, the day has come…"

The king, Merick Electra was standing on the walls. In front of him, a green horde was camping down the walls, out of reach. He was wearing his battle attire, even if he probably wouldn't even need his sword today. He wore a beautiful armor made of light green metal carved with dragons, covering his whole body. On his back, a huge two-handed curved sword was lying, ready to chop to pieces everything smaller than a ogre. On his head was the crown, made of white gold and numerous gems of all the colors. By his side was a banner bearer, holding the banner with the Ridan crest, a white sword and shield, beneath a crown, all on a dark purple background

Of course, he wouldn't fight with his crown if needed, but he was commanding the army today. Normally, the strategists were taking care of that, but today he needed to give a morale boost to his troops. And it wasn't like the strategists couldn't help him devising a strategy.

The weather was a clear, but it was the morning, making people feel chilly despite the sun warming them up. The land in front of Jodal was a huge plain, all the trees were cut and all the hills razed precisely to make it easier for the Ridans to defend themselves.

The goblins had already formed in square battle formations, and were shouting obscenities in their strange language at the humans. But humans couldn't even hear them properly, so they didn't mind. All the soldiers currently at the wall were used to fighting monsters, and on top of the walls they felt like nothing would ever damage them.

"The numbers?"

The king asked, and one of the strategists by his side answered.

"We expect about ten millions on their side, and 20 000 on ours. 170 000 more is expected to come to us as reinforcements within four days."

Merick was quite surprised, it was the first time the goblins had gathered so much of them for an invasion. But he wasn't afraid. Their numbers meant nothing if the Ridans could keep them from getting on the walls. One of the strategists looking with a spyglass shouted.

"Siege weapons incoming!"

From within the Brolurian army came various strange war machines. Goblins were bad at magic. REALLY bad. A regular goblin shaman could barely win a fight with a Ridan magic senior student. But if there was one thing goblins had to be praised for, it was their engineering. They compensated their lack in magic by building strange machines. Most of those machines were usually badly built and fell apart, but if only one of them worked properly the potential damage was big.

A swarm of trebuchets, catapults, machines with axes at one end, and a drill at the other end, ballistas, and even strange flying machines with big round parts at the top came, from the ground and the sky. They would be later known as hot air balloons.

"Engineers, activate the wall defences! Sharpshooters, aim in priority at those flying things!"

The orders were echoed on the wall, as the bannermen repeated the orders so everyone could hear them. Slowly, a buzzing sound was heard, it gained in volume until a clear crystalline sound was heard and no more. The non-mage troops couldn't see it, but the enchanted walls had just been activated.

Along the wall, things started moving as archers knocked their arrows, crossbowmen loaded their bolts, engineers loaded the magic cannons with cannonballs, mages prepared to launch spells from their staves or wands, stones were loaded on the trebuchets and catapults and the engineers prepared themselves to activate the various traps laid in front of the walls.

On the other side, the goblins were already aiming their siege engines, but something else was happening. A clamor was heard by the Ridans, and a huge horde ran forward. Except they weren't goblins. Orcs, humans, dwarves, demi-humans and even trolls and ogres ran with all their might. Some had weapons, but the majority had nothing more than a piece of cloth on them and a stick. Thinking about it, the clamor sounded more like a shout of desperation.

"Slaves…"

Merick Electra was furious. He valued life, and didn't like the concept of slavery. Yet, the goblins sent slaves forward, as nothing more than cannon fodder. The feeling was generally the same for all the Ridans. This slave wave had no other goal than activating the traps so the goblins could walk forward without fearing them.

One of the strategists spoke to the king.

"Sir, I'm sorry but deactivating the traps and reactivating them would be too long. The goblins would walk past them before they could be used again."

The king grinded his teeth, before answering.

"Damn it, keep these traps activated."

The slaves kept running, and suddenly explosions started happening. They had reached the magic mine fields, and they had no choice but to rely on luck to avoid death. Some tried to run back to the goblin lines, but arrows came to welcome them. Between the volley of arrows from the goblins and the Ridan traps, their chances of surviving were close to none.

While the slaves were getting slaughtered, the goblins fired their siege weapons. The rocks and various projectiles were launched at a fearsome speed and were so much they darkened the sky. They were about to hit the wall or the defenders on it, and bounced back before hitting anything. A transparent bluish wall was activated, and defended the wall from all attacks. A report came to Merick from a strategist.

"My king, a report from the wall engineers. If the goblins have that much firepower, the enchantment should last for ten hours before all the mana is consumed."

The walls had a powerful enchantment, but it was very mana-consuming. Adding to the fact that the numerous enchantments had to cover the whole wall, it couldn't last for very long, despite the gigantic mana reserves gathered over the years.

"Cannons, aim to their siege weapons! The rest, aim for their flying machines! For our people! For our land! For Rida!"

A shout was heard from the wall giving courage to the humans intimated by the number of goblins, and the Ridan power was unleashed. It was a fearsome sight to see. All the cannons fired at once, making the cannoneer's ears go numb. The goblins siege weapons hit directly were blasted to pieces, while the ones who miraculously avoided the deadly enchanted cannonballs were damaged from the effects of the magic unleashed.

The mages released their spells, lighting up the battlefield in a myriad of colors. The hot-air ballons, lightly defended, couldn't resist the onslaught of magic, and more than a quarter of them got shot down in a single volley.

The sharpshooters fired their bows and crossbows, darkening the sky from all the shots fired. The thousands of bolts and arrows, helped by gravity, fell onto the goblin forces with enough strength to go right through the shields the they were trying to protect themselves with.

The catapults, trebuchets and ballistas made as much damage as the rest, flattening and breaking bones in the green-skin lines.

The Ridans shouted out of excitement. Seeing so much goblins dying in a single volley of ranged weapons was indeed quite impressive. The king Merick was happy as well, but not for long. The counter-attack was devastating and thousands of goblins died in the span of a few seconds, but that wasn't enough.

There were around ten million goblins attacking Jodal, and that wasn't counting the potential reinforcements they could receive. The Ridan defences were hard as adamantium, but they had a limited amount of ammunition. And Merick knew the common goblin strategy.

They sent first the prisoners, slaves and weak fighters, to make their enemies use up their resources and appear weak, and then their elite troops came in, slaughtering the tired warriors who didn't expect to meet such powerful goblins.

And like that, the struggle of the goblins to take the impregnable fortress began.

* * *

During all the day, the thunder of the magic cannons rang. The occasional darkening of the sky from all the arrows shot. The constant and various light from all the magic cast. When the mana needed to maintain the huge enchantment on the wall ran out, the occasional human scream could be heard when someone was unlucky enough to get hit.

Behind the five defensive walls, the forges of Jodal kept working, producing cannonballs and passing them to the enchanters. The chimneys of the alchemy district kept spewing smoke with different colors, to produce enough mana potions to the mages and wizards fighting on the walls. Even the students of the schools of alchemy, magic and magic engineering throughout the realm participated in the war effort by producing inferior but cheaper consumables immediately bought by the army and sent to Jodal.

The queen Arlette Electra was taking care of the country, while Merick was at war. Currently, he was eating a frugal dinner in the dim light of the sunset coming through a window of the Jodal palace, reading a report when a page interrupted him.

"My king, sir Hugo Delvo wishes to talk to you."

"Let him in."

Sir Delvo was the baron in charge of Jodal. As the lord of the most important military fortress of the country, he had the second most powerful influence in the country after the king. He was a strong man in his forties, with muscles bulging, a light leather armor, short hair and a square face. If someone wanted the picture of a warrior, he was the perfect example.

"Baron Delvo, what is the matter?"

Hugo Delvo was a practical man, and he went straight to the point.

"Sir, we have been infiltrated. Goblins successfully went in our defenses, and collapsed half of our caves containing cannonballs. If we salvage what we can from the rubble we can keep bombarding and suppressing the goblins continuously for four days with the magic cannons, but after that we will have to rely on the goods crafted directly in Jodal, and there won't be enough to sustain a suppressing fire powerful enough to stop the goblins from reaching the walls. The mages, sharpshooters and other siege machines will slow them down but that's all. And as the enchantment on the walls is long depleted, we will have to go in close-combat with them I'm afraid."

The king put back the report he was reading on the table, crossed his hands and rested his head on them. That was quite the troubling news.

The reason the Ridan martial abilities were so feared in the other countries were due mainly to the magic cannons. The elves were good at magic, seeing the cannons as something inferior to their mana handling, and the dwarves didn't like tainting their crafts with magic, preferring runes. The truth was that the former was not good enough at producing the complex craft of a cannon, and the latter was not good enough with magic to use the cannons to their full potential. Only the humans of the Rida kingdom were capable of using magic cannons and drawing out their maximum power. And they kept the secret jealously, not selling the technology even for enough gold to buy a country.

But if the magic cannons didn't have ammunition and couldn't keep suppressing the goblins, they were useless. And in conventional warfare, the troops number played a big role. And the goblins had much, MUCH more troops than the Ridans.

"How much goblins did we take out today?"

"It is estimated we annihilated about 500 000 of them. And tonight's ritual should take out around 50 000 of them."

The ritual was something done by the most powerful Ridan wizard. He was one of the few people that the King's genius mage daughter, Erina Electra still couldn't beat in a mage duel. The ritual in itself was a complicated use of wild magic. With all the dead goblins today, using as much as 500 000 souls to power a spell could be akin to a cataclysm.

"So, in theory we should hold on for twenty days. I will issue a royal decree for the citizens of the kingdom to help in the cannonball production. They won't like it, but it's that or death. We will also retreat to the second wall, so we can kill them in the murderzone. Begin the resource moving for tonight."

"Yes, my king!"

There were three reasons to retreating to the second wall. The first one was that by moving all the weapons on the first wall to the second which was as much armed as the first basically doubled the Ridan firepower. The second reason was that between each wall, there was the "murderzone". The murderzone was a place specifically designed to kill invaders easily. Traps, flat ground, poisoned ponds, adding to the fact that the humans could shoot from the wall, but also from the mountains on each side made it so an army stepping into was making a deathwish. And the final reason was that Merick knew that eventually they would have to retreat to the second wall, and it was better to do it while having the time to move all the weapon, equipment and resources so they didn't fall into goblin hands.

The baron Delvo left the room already telling his orders to the page following him, while the king went back to reading a report.

* * *

During all the night, the walls were bustling with activity. In addition to the thunder of the cannons and the goblin shouts, people ran with crates in their hands, moving everything valuable to the second wall. Insults, orders and the sound of every weapon being moved made such a ruckus they couldn't hear the goblins anymore. Gradually, the cannons on the wall were moved, silencing the battlefield. It was kind of weird, after being used all the day to the sound of the cannonade.

The bunkers were abandoned, and finally the first wall was left with no defenders. Thinking the Ridans were fleeing, the goblins shouted a victory cry and started using battering rams to bring the gate down. But they were no simple gates. Entirely of orichalcum, reinforced with adamantium and enchanted, it took also the whole night the goblins to finally break through, giving enough time for the humans to arm the second wall.

The Ridans immediately started shooting at them, except the cannons. It was weird for them not to, but the cannoneers didn't question the orders and just loaded them as it was ordered.

But without the cannons to suppress the goblins, they quickly broke through the weakened barrage and ran to the second wall, ignoring their kinsmen caught in traps or blasted apart by magic or else.

Merick was watching the battlefield, nervous. If the strategy he imagined didn't work, they would be in great difficulty. He waited, crossed arms, for something only he and the strategists knew about. This was a very risky bet. If it didn't work, they could lose the battle, but if it did, the goblins would suffer tremendous damage.

Despite the murderzone between each wall being one kilometer wide, it took only a few minutes for it to become a green swarm covering the whole ground. But it seemed the goblin troops were gaining in quality. What were before goblins with simple cloth and spears, were now armored troops, wearing simple armors and more advanced weaponry, walking in coordinated formations to minimize the damage dealt by the cannons. Finally, from the broken gate of the first wall came the thing the king was waiting for. Goblins, clad in dark heavy armor covering their whole body, holding metal shields and long ladders.

"Yes! Finally! Cannons, prepare to fire on the armored troops!"

The king's orders were echoed along the wall. The cannons were aimed at the heavily armed goblin troops incoming and waited.

"Not yet…"

More and more of them came.

"Not. Yet…"

The Ridans looked nervously at the swarm approaching. The cannons couldn't fire at the base of the wall, so if they got too close it would be problematic.

"Not yet…"

The mages unleashed their powers, trying to somehow slow down the green skins. Finally, the last armored goblin came out of the gate, letting other normally armed goblins pass behind them.

"Wait a bit more…"

The goblin vanguard finally crashed into the wall. Even the mighty building trembled a bit from the weight of thousands of goblins combined hitting it at once.

"Just a little bit…"

Improvised battering rams started damaging the gate. The numerous other who didn't have enough place to hit the gate started hitting the wall itself. The armored goblins were now half way through the murderzone, and they started to raise the ladders they were holding.

"Now!"

More than 300 magic cannons shot at once, shredding and tearing apart the armored goblins. Explosions blasted them apart, fire burnt the remains and acid liquid melted the ashes. The magical effects lasted for at least ten seconds, while cries and screeches of pain were heard. The shock of the attack was so great, both humans and goblins stopped their actions and looked in awe at the area filled with smoke. The impact was so great that even the nearby goblins who didn't get hit died on the spot, their internal organs exploding from the blastwave generated.

The battlefield was in complete silence, even the siege weapons had had been silenced to look at the commotion. A Ridan mage used a wind spell to dissipate the smoke, but there was nothing to see. Just a huge crater, five meters deep, with the rocks at the bottom red-hot from the heat generated.

Both sides were shocked. The Ridans, because they didn't know they could unleash such fearsome power, and the goblins because they took the full strength of said power.

The humans shouted, excited by the massacre, while the goblins ran back to the first wall, screaming in fear. The green-skin's morale had been completely and utterly smashed apart.

"Now's the time, Ridans! pursue them and push them back to the first gate!"

The Ridan regular army had been prepared behind the gates of the second wall prior to the battle. They couldn't see what was happening behind the wall, but from what they heard, it was their victory and they were excited to charge outside. Finally, the gate opened, and they went out with a war cry, pursuing the panicked goblins.

The Sun Spirian cavalry went out first, using their lances to skewer the slower hobgoblins. Then, the Baral salamander riders, then the regular Ridan cavalry.

From behind the cavalry came running infantry units, while the sharpshooters and spell casters wrecked havoc from the walls or bunkers.

* * *

Among the goblin lines, it was absolute chaos. A little goblin named Knod ran with all his might to the gates of the first wall. He was pretty weak, even for a goblin, but he got drafted anyway.

He knew the unit specially trained for three years, armed with the best armors, blessed by the shamans, protected by spells. Like a lot of goblins in Brolur, he looked up to them, for they were the strongest warriors of the army. And just like that, they died. Nothing was left of them. Not even a tiny piece.

He was running while trying to avoid falling, if he did he would be trampled on by the other goblins running.

The sound of the cannons shooting finally stopped. The spells cast by the humans were powerful, but the most terrifying was definitely these cannons. Thinking he finally had a chance to get out of here alive, he looked back, only to get even more terrified.

The human cavalry was charging the goblins back, slaughtering them like pigs. They were even war salamanders charging, breathing flames and chomping in addition to the human on top of it fighting. And behind them, thousands and thousands of humans on feet, charging and shouting war cries.

Knod was a little more intelligent than his kinsmen. Every goblin knew how to count, read and write, but Knod spent more time, reading books written by famous goblins or stolen from caravans. He could see and understand that the humans were trying to break apart the army, but he knew also that they were a LOT more goblins.

Thinking about his thirteen children and his wife back at home, he feared. He knew that traditionally the Ridans only defended themselves, but at some point, they would reach their breaking point and would attack the Brolurians to get revenge. And he feared for his family. He slowed down, picked a spear abandoned on the ground, and raised it.

"Come on, goblins! They are strong, but there are two, no, three million more of us! Fight back! We can d-"

Suddenly, he felt a sharp pain in his stomach. He looked down, and saw that there was a lance skewering him. He was pushed against three more goblins in the same situation before him, he felt another one on his back, before the knight dropped his lance that looked like it belonged on a grill now.

The few goblins who tried to fight back were killed as easily as that, and the others just tried to get to the gates as fast as possible. The commanders and strategists tried to get the goblins back to fighting, but the situation was beyond saving.

This day, the goblin army lost 1 500 000 of its members at the hands of the Ridan army.

* * *

Merick Electra was finally relaxing a bit. The bet he made was very dangerous. He knew beforehand that the goblins had a unit specifically trained and equipped to make a foothold on the walls, while the other goblins would go up the ladders they would have prepared. That way, they could overrun the Ridans with the numbers.

He specifically gave orders to the cannons not to shoot to trick the goblins in believing they had no cannonballs anymore, and it worked. If it didn't work, the goblins would be currently destroying the gate and it would have been very complicated to drive them back.

But the bet succeeded, and thanks to that the most dangerous goblin unit had been annihilated. It would take them at least a few hours to calm down and reform the battle formations, giving the Ridans a well-deserved rest.

Despite the goblins losing their most powerful unit, they still had 7 500 000 more waiting behind the first wall. But the Ridans destroyed the most dangerous threat in a single cannon volley. That was quite satisfying, for Merick felt like he got vengeance for the caves filled with ammunition collapsed.

One hour after that, the report came. The king invited the baron Delvo to discuss of it, when he was interrupted.

"But, my king, we can't attack their supply chain, we need all the army here, we sh…"

A page opened the door violently, panting and trying to catch his breath. He was quickly caught by the royal guards on each side of the door. He was quite young, and got easily controlled while he was trying to break free. Merick raised from his chair, and walked in front of him.

"Release him. What is happening? You wouldn't ignore the security if it wasn't important."

From behind, a group of guard came running. It seemed they were pursuing the page that just ran past them. Seeing the king, they immediately stopped. The sergeant walked a step in his direction and bowed.

"Sorry my king! We couldn't catch him and-"

Merick signalled him to shut up.

"Speak. What is happening, page?"

The young boy tried to talk, but he was short of breath.

"Baron Delvo, bring him something to drink!"

"Yes!"

The baron brought the glass filled with alcohol he was drinking from and gave it to the boy. He drank, but immediately coughed when he felt the liquid burning his throat.

"The… The undead! They came from the transfer gates! In Riyal, Sidal, Kazgray and Barakzul ! Un… Undead! And D…Demons! And… The guards! The…Ci...Citizens! Death! Th…The…"

The boy was panicking, so the king put his hand on his shoulder.

"The undead…And Demons…"

He closed his eyes, and formed a fist with his other hand.

"HOW DARE THEY!"

He suddenly got up. His eyes were burning with fury, and he was trembling with rage.

"They will PAY! I SWEAR, BROLUR, IF THAT'S YOUR FAULT I'LL COME PERSONALLY TO LAY WASTE TO YOUR KINGDOM!"

Even Hugo Delvo was surprised. Despite being a friend of the king for a long time, it was the first time he had seen him so angry.

"SERGEANT!"

The man in charge of the squad stood at attention, a little bit scared.

"I'll go deal with that. Tell the Weeping maidens, the Archers of the Storm, 250 Stargazer mages and 250 clerics to be prepared to go out in under an hour. Use my seal!"

He took out the ring on his finger, and threw it at the sergeant.

"Hugo, you will be in charge of the operations here."

"Yes, my king!"

He looked around, and saw a maid waiting. She got scared when he looked at her with a furious gaze.

"And you! Why are you not preparing my battle attire already! Go!"

"Y…Yes!"

She ran out of the room as fast as she could, holding her maid dress up to avoid tripping.

"I swear on my name, if this isn't a coincidence you'll pay dearly, Brolur."

* * *

Half an hour later, the king got out of Jodal on horse, followed by an army. There were 5000 people following him.

2500 members of the Weeping Maidens. They were a unit composed entirely of women, wielding swords and large wooden and leather shields. They all wore the same armor, leather boots and pants, a chainmail over a light blue cloth tunic going up to the knees, fur bracers on their arms and a metal helmet covering the upper part of the face and the neck. Some of them had throwing axes hanging at their belts. They also had a tattoo of a teardrop under their right eye, showing their origins. The weeping maidens was a unit created when Tarmeg, the city deep into the mountains got sieged. The defenders gradually died from the monsters attack, and the women, grieving their husbands and lovers took the arms to replace them.

1500 members of the Archers of the Storm. Their name was actually a trick to deceive the enemy. They had the name of archers. They had the equipment of archers. They acted as archers. But their main activity was recon and assassination from distance.

The stargazer mages lived up to the reputation of the order, as only the best mages were accepted into the unit. Dark blue robes with silver decorations, staves with a mana stone the color of the magic they specialized in and various jewellery, buffing up their already powerful destructive ability was their equipment.

The clerics were not actually priests. They were trained in light and water magic, to be able to heal any wound and purify any negative effect. But they did not need to actually worship a god. They havested the power necessary to cast their spells from faith, but it could be faith in anything. Even in the village of Hayle, there were famous alcoholomancers who believed in the god of alcohol. They were not very useful though, as they were drunk most of the times. That way, the clerics from the Ridan army could believe in whatever they wanted as long as their spells worked.

The king himself wore his usual light green full plate armor and a huge two-handed sword on his back. The armor was engraved with dragons and dragon-related pictures all over, and the sword was curved with a hilt made of dragon scale. In place of the pommel, there was an emerald the size of an egg.

It took them two days of walking to reach Sidal, one of the cities mentioned by the boy. The city was eerily quiet, so a recon team formed by archers of the storm was sent, and they came back in an hour.

It turned out the inhabitants were hiding, and the undead were roaming the streets. Not much though, as most of them were banging on the gate of the castle of the lord. The citizens who reached it in time barricaded themselves in it, hoping for help. Some demons were also attacking, but the castle was made to withstand a long and tiresome siege. An undead horde and a few spells would not make the gate falter. The king was in front of the open gate, talking with the commanders of each corp.

"Falea Svidar, you will lead your troops, and I will lead the charge with you through the main street up to the castle."

Faela Svidar was the commander of the Weeping Maidens. She answered with a strong Nordic accent.

"Yes, my king! We will live, or we will see each other in Valhalla!"

"Flin Ferdo, follow the Maidens, protect them with wards and cast your spells."

The commander of the Stargazer battle mages answered in a soft, almost mysterious voice under his long, grey beard.

"It's been a long time since I made the undead taste my magic…"

"Lamar Ectaris, I want half of your archers on the roofs following the main corp, and I want the other half to scout the rest of the city to wipe the small groups of undead while we take care of the ones at the castle."

The man raised his eyes from the shadows of his dark green hood for a moment.

"It shall be done."

"Renly Ford, mix your clerics with the Maidens to be protected. You know what to do."

The man was actually a young man who had barely twenty years old, but his prowess in healing magic was so great he received an important military position as soon as he left the magic school. Today was a test of his skills, and his first battle.

"The god of knowledge, T'kara, shall give me and my companions power."

The king looked at his subordinates, all kneeling in front of him.

"Good. In one hour, I want this filth exterminated from my kingdom. To battle!"

"To battle!"

* * *

The battle to retake the city began easily. The archers had already infiltrated and opened the main gate, and they set forth.

Walking beside Falea, Merick looked at the damages done to the city, and things were better than he expected. Most of the doors were closed, the windows were barricaded from the inside. It seemed the inhabitant swiftly reacted and only a few houses were destroyed.

The few undead roaming the streets in front of them were either shot down by arrows, or by a spell even before the Maidens and the king came to contact. As they walked, more and more corpses started littering the streets. Some were unidentified monsters, some were humans, and some of them wore the usual Ridan city guard armor.

Suddenly, a girlish voice echoed in the silent streets.

"Mama, mama! Look! It's like in the book you showed me! It's the King! Mama!"

On the first floor of a building, a little girl was looking by the barely low enough window for her, pointing her finger at the king. Another voice was heard, probably from an older woman.

"Annie, come back! You must be quiet or they will- By the gods!"

She recognized as well the face of the king, and covered her wide open mouth with one hand, before running back inside.

"George! It's the King Merick!"

"What?!"

"Quickly, go outside!"

"But-"

"Go!"

The sound of people running inside was heard, and Merick raised his hand to order the army to stop. Multiple locks were opened, and a man was practically thrown outside. He wore a city guard armor, but the helmet was lacking, stains were on the cloth parts, a badly damaged shortsword was hanging at his belt, on his face an unkept beard and a half-filled bottle in one hand.

He immediately dropped the bottle, and ran in uncertain steps to the king before kneeling. A woman in her fourties came as well and kneeled, while the little girl was hiding behind the door and peeked.

"My… My king! Are you here to...*hic*… to save us?"

Merick nodded, acknowledging the guard's loyalty despite his drunken state.

"Of course. I wouldn't let my citizen be killed by undead and demons without reacting. Tell me what happened."

The man changed his position, begging in front of the king.

"I'm sorry your m…Majesty, but there was nothing we c…*hic*…Could do. They appeared through the…The…The transfer gate without warning, and caused chaos, a week ago? M..*hic*…Maybe?. We contained them for some time, but all the mages working at the t…Transfer gate had been already killed, and we didn't know how to turn it off. More and more of them came through the gate, and we couldn't contain them anymore. My squad was there, and it was a bl…Bloody massacre. Only half of the citizen had been put to safety inside the castle, but they panicked and closed the gates, leaving us outs…*hic*…Outside. The captain just screamed to everyone to run away and barricade themselves while we tried to contain them a little bit more, but it was too late. A big demon appeared, and… He grabbed the captain and crushed his head with his bare hands. We… I ran away. I just wanted to protect my family, and we barricaded ourselves. Some of us tried to run away from the city, but another demon was at each gate, and they had already closed ever…Every…Everu…Everything."

The sergeant waited for his punishment. He deserted after all, and desertion during a battle was a serious crime. Despite his state, he was very conscious of his acts and sobered up quickly in front of the ruler of the country.

"How are the survivors doing?"

A little surprised by the question, the guardsman answered.

"I'm not sure. The orphans of the local orphanage are acting as messengers by running and jumping on the roofs, and they told us there's a demon commanding at least 100 skeletons wiping out the survivors. From what they know, they killed everyone in the market district already, and are doing the same in the noble district right now. And the ones hiding in the castle are s…Safe, the gate is beare…Barely scratched."

The King watched the family, thinking about what to do.

"I can't punish a man who just wanted to protect his family, but I can't leave you out of the military rules either. Sergeant, give me your accreditation!"

"Yes!"

The man raised from his begging position, ripped off the bronze-colored sword decoration woven on his shoulder and gave it to the king. Merick threw away the symbol without a second thought.

"You're not a sergeant anymore, you're back to being a simple guard. I have a task for you. Pass the news: The King is here, you are safe. The places behind us should be safe of any threat, but tell every person still able to fight to patrol the streets, just to be sure. And, not on any circumstance, do not come to the center of the city until I haven't dealt with them. Am I clear?"

"Yes, my King!"

The guard saluted, and ran to a house to bang on the door with his fist. Meanwhile, the wife did the same, running in the other direction, followed by the little girl.

"Falea, change the formation of your unit as you see fit. Lamar, tell your archers to destroy that horde in the noble district in priority. We go."

"Yes!"

* * *

Just as the reports said, there weren't much enemies on the streets. It seemed the demons were the commanders and the undead simple soldiers.

The city was built in a circular manner, with the castle in the center. Surrounding the castle was a big empty space, in which was usually a big market. But now, all the stalls had been burned, destroyed or trampled by the thousands of undead who tried to get inside the castle. Their moans weren't very intimidating, but it was a powerful psychological weapon. With no chance of escape, hearing the most hated thing by the living constantly, imagining what could happen if they caught you led more than one onto the path of madness.

More than hearing, seeing an undead was a dreadful experience. The white bones of the skeletons, their rusted weapons, the firesouls in their eye sockets, the rotted flesh hanging from the zombie's members, the bloated undead filled with negative energy, and even worse the demons among them. They weren't many compared to the unliving, but they were as much if not more fear-inspiring. Unnatural red, sick milky white, yellow, even multiple colors of skin, their faces, smiling and their eyes hating everything and everyone… Everything from the undead and demon army oozed malice and darkness.

As soon as the Ridans appeared from the streets, the demons shouted orders and the undead redirected their hunger for flesh on the humans.

Merick, Faela, Flin, Renly and Lamar shouted their orders too.

 **[Magic ward]!**

 **[Lugh's blessing]!**

 **[Wall of protection from arrows]!**

 **[Jericho's blessing]!**

 **[Stone skin]!**

 **[Holy fire]!**

 **[Expanded magic: Holy ground]!**

 **[Turn undead]!**

All the spells cast by the Ridan clerics literally made the human army brimming with fire and holy light, the most threatening elements against demons and undead.

The humans charged at the army of darkness, some weak undead couldn't take so much holy power and dissipated into ashes, disintegrated on the spot. But they had magic casters too. In contrast of the clear human voices, the undead mages cast their magic with an eerily spectral voice, while the demons had various voices. Some had a rough tone, like gravel being crushed, while others had a very appealing feminine voice and body, trying to lure the weak-minded humans into their grasp. That was one of the reasons Merick chose one of the rare all-women unit to fight the demons. He knew how they fought traditionally. The succubae's natural attraction was nearly useless in this situation.

 **[Dark rule]!**

 **[Appeal of the demonic realm]!**

 **[Unholy temptation]!**

 **[Fallen's whip]!**

 **[Fly swarm]!**

 **[Fireball]!**

 **[Mutate flesh]!**

 **[Bone curse]!**

 **[Soul rift]!**

While the infantry clashed, it became a duel between the mages of each army. The goal was to damage the enemy infantry as much as possible, while finding the right spell to counter the enemy doing the same.

At the front, Merick was doing great damage to the enemy army by himself. He used his curved two-handed sword to cut his enemies in halves, with no chance of surviving. Even the skeletons who should be reviving because of the **[Dark rule]** spell stayed on the ground thanks to the **[Holy ground].**

The king was currently fighting a big bloated undead. When decapitated, it exploded, sending negative energy to its surrounding and healing the undead. The Maidens and the king, on the contrary, were injured but it only took a few seconds before healing spells washed away the pain. An armored skeleton tried to flank him, but a Maiden bashed him away with her shield. Merick thanked her with a head nod, and used the moment of respite to look at the battlefield.

Overall, the battle was going strongly in the human's favor. There was a lot of undead, but by killing the necromancer who summoned them they forgot everything about orders and former training and attacked wildly the humans, making them easy preys.

And the demons who summoned the undead were easily noticeable in the unliving horde. Half of them had been already shot down by the archers, helped by the magic casters using the **[Fly]** spell.

Finally, the leader appeared of the army of darkness appeared. It was really the image of the stereotypes about the demons.

First of all, it was big. At least double the height of a regular human. He had red skin, a body ripped with muscles, and a light armor made of dark metal, covering his arms, body and upper legs. At his waist hanged human heads, hooked on butcher hooks. Instead of feets, he had hoofs. His face displayed a smile of contempt, two light-green eyes with slit pupils and two black curved horns on top of it.

It looked at the battlefield, assessing the situation. Seeing that things didn't go in his favor, he quickly shouted his orders.

" **THE KING IS MINE!"**

The undead and demons around stopped attacking Merick, and backed away. The king ordered the same. A circle formed, where the demon and the king stepped. While the duel began, the fighting around went on, but didn't interfere with the leaders.

" **You are brave, king of the humans. But you are foolish. I am Axatril, greater demon of the sixth circle. You are nothing but a puny ant for me."**

Merick snickered. Boasting about their strength was something that all demons did. And he believed in his clerics and mages to buff him with spells, and in his trump card.

"Axatril, I do not know what the sixth circle is, but I am the king of the Ridans. I am not some mere weakling. Come at me, because I have the power of a whole nation behind me!"

" **Aaahhh… Lezalus was right, all mortals are stupid after all… Looks like I lost the bet."**

Smoke formed around his right arm. It congregated on a sword shape, and solidified. It was now a black serrated bastard sword with a red gem on the hilt.

" **DIE!"**

With a surprising speed compared to his size, he jumped right at the king, trying to cut him in halves with his sword. Normally, Merick would have been swiped away because of the simple difference in raw strength, but he had been buffed with tens of spells before the battle, allowing him to overcome the difference.

Raising his sword, he made the blade slide above him and counterattacked, trying to slash at the demon's legs. It looked like Axatril didn't expect Merick to counterattack, because the wound inflicted was deep and bleeding.

Stepping back, he looked at the wound, and then at the black blood dripping from the king's blade.

" **I LOVE unexpected surprises!"**

He looked even more excited than before. He now took the blade with his two hands and jumped once more, slashing quickly, not leaving enough space for the king to counterattack. Merick was on the defensive, but the demon was really strong. Each parry made his arms go numb. Finally, a hit went past the king's defence on his right flank, and strongly pushed him back. His armor was sturdy and blocked the hit, but it was painful nevertheless.

Merick raised the visor of his helmet, spit some blood and put the visor back.

"Your majesty!"

"HE'S MINE!"

Falea Svidar was worried about Merick getting injured, but if she came in, the demon would start attacking the Ridan infantry, and they weren't powerful enough to resist him. Here, only Merick was equipped enough to push him back.

This time, Merick went on the offensive first, and swung his sword in a large arc, aiming at the demon's left arm. Of course, Axatril blocked such a predictable swing, but that was not all. At the last moment, Merick whispered **[Flow acceleration]** , raising his speed. The curved sword avoided the serrated bastard sword, and hit the arm guard.

The king immediately pulled back, as the demon was preparing to counterattack, but he stopped and looked dumbfounded at his arm guard. Despite the damage only being a scratch on the piece of armor, he felt like something was burning him beneath.

That was the effect of the king's set of items, the set of the [Corruption dragon]. This set, when completed, added corrosive damage to each physical attack of the wearer and allowed to use three skills related to the mighty being a limited amount of times each day.

"Not so sure of your victory, demon, right? Like I said, I have the power of a whole nation behind me."

" **Even if trained, a mouse cannot fight back a lion. This is nothing."**

Axatril prepared to jump again, decided to finish it quickly before more surprises made too much damage, but the difference in equipment was really something. Despite its claims, Axatril was only a regular demon in the demonic society. He didn't have access to the equipment granted to the most powerful demons.

On the other side, Merick was the king of a nation. He was at the very top, and was equipped with the best gear that could be found and produced.

Merick raised his sword and shouted.

 **[Draconic presence]!**

A roar was heard in the place, and the pressure of a dragon locked the demon in place. Of course, there wasn't actually a dragon, but the feeling was very real. Axatril was only paralyzed for a few seconds, but it was enough for the king to deal some serious damage. He ran up to the demon, raised his sword high in the sky and cut the hand of the dark being holding the sword, aiming at the gap between the arm guard and the armored gauntlet.

The demon regained control of his body and roared out of pain. In addition of the pain of the ghost member, he felt the corrosive power burning his flesh. Merick used the moment to activate the second skill, **[Draconic power].**

He ducked under the demon trying to punch him with his remaining hand, and shoved his sword deep into the demon's guts. It was only thanks to the Draconic power skill that he went right through the dark armor. Finally, he activated the last skill.

 **[Draconic corruption]!**

A sick yellow-green liquid started sprouting from the blade, going inside the demon's blood system, burning his organs and oxidizing everything in it's path. Numerous internal haemorrhages happened at the same time.

The king pulled back his blade and retreated a few steps, ready for a last struggle. But the damages were too great. The demon had black blood oozing out of his wounds, but also from his mouth, eyes, and ears.

" **I…Was…Beaten?..."**

With those three words, he fell to the ground, making it shake under his weight. The Ridans stayed silent for a second, and then cheered, fighting with a renewed fighting spirit. The demons on the other side, were selfish beings. If something didn't go in their favor, they were likely to run away. And they did. The ones casting magic opened portals leading to the demonic realm, and the others ran to the transfer gate of the city. The undead were left alone, without commands. It took barely thirty minutes to finish them off.

At the end, Merick walked up to a stall relatively intact, climbed it and faced his army.

"THE VICTORY IS OURS!"

The crowd exploded in war cries, shouts of excitement and weapons being clanked. Some spells were even shot in the air, making an improvised firework. The new spread, and the civilians joined them. At the end, the whole city was shouting, relieving its stress.

Merick was excited as well, but he wasn't as much as the others. He still had two cities and a castle to free, and the goblins were still fighting at Jodal. The Ridans still had a long way before everything was resolved.

* * *

 **Hello there, author here.**

 **I'm quite satisfied with what I wrote this time (I hope you are too).**

 **The story of Erina looking for her set of items will be written later. The next chapter(s) will be about the King Merick Electra, and his struggle to save his nation.**

 **I think i'm quite good at writing in english, but it's not my mother language, sorry if there are some errors (I re-read chapters multiple times to spot them, but some may escape me).**

 **I hope you liked what you read, and any question in the comments will be answered by PM.**

 **See you next publication!**


	11. Chapter 10: A king's will (part two)

**In the last chapter, the king, Merick Electra started pushing back the goblin invasion, but he received news of some cities being attacked by an army compossed of undead and demons. Riding swiftly to one of the cities, he defeated one of the demon general.**

* * *

*cough cough*

Lying in his royal bed, king Merick was in a bad shape. He tried to get up, but the doctor at his side immediately pushed him down.

"Your majesty, you are not well enough to get up. In fact, if I was the only one to decide I would have forced you to stay on that bed for a whole month."

Grunting, Merick Electra laid back, trying to ease the pain he was feeling right now. Looking at his own body, it was hard to believe he fought and killed a demon just yesterday.

It all happened during the victory celebration. While the city cheered, the citizen having their loyalty to the king renewed, king Merick was on a stall, watching his people with satisfaction. Suddenly, he started coughing. The people watching thought that it was nothing serious, so they kept on shouting.

Merick Electra entered as a winner in the castle, and things seemed to go smoothly. While the King was talking with the lord, he started coughing again. But the coughing didn't stop this time. He put his hand in front of his mouth, and blood dripped between his armored fingers. Merick looked at his bloodied hand, his vision blurry, and fell abruptly to the ground, unconscious. There was a moment of silence, the clanking of the king's helmet rolling the only noise that could be heard.

Immediately, the squad of royal guard made a defensive formation, while the clerics used their spells to heal the king. The lord ordered to the maidens outside to let no one inside except healing personnel.

But here's the thing with healing magic. Healing magic deviates from light magic. And the power of light is not to "heal", technically. The power of light is to "repair".

A broken bone can be "repaired". A wound, a sickness too. But the king's body wasn't "broken". It was more accurate to say that the king went past its limit. Despite a healthy life, he was old, and the stress added to the shock of the fight was too much to handle for an old man's body. What just got broken needed spare parts, and light magic couldn't provide that. At least, not at the level of magic known by the Ridan clerics.

Renly Ford, the young leader of the clerics, quickly stabilized the king's condition. He was then brought inside the castle, where the lord's personal doctor took him in charge. At that point, Merick Electra could only hope that the previous fight wasn't his last.

Merick sent a message to Jodal, asking for one of the best generals. Not having the burden of a supply wagon like Merick did with the army, the general arrived by horse in a single day.

But there was a huge problem. The political landscape might look strongly in favor of the king, but it was much more complicated. The nobles in favor of the king reached roughly 65% of all the nobles. That looked good, until one looked at the territory controlled. Out of the rest, 25% of the nobles were really rich and powerful, and owned a quarter of the territory. The 10% left were nobles that weren't interested in politics, or owners of territories so far in the countryside they knew they would never have a chance politically against other nobles.

In case of a civil war, the king would win, there was no doubt. But the damages would be too big, and the neighboring countries, even if peaceful, always looked for an opportunity. Merick needed to appear strong, to reassure his people. The less people knew about his condition, the better it was.

Merick drank a painkiller and told the general to free the remaining cities, while he would stay there. There were no reasons to stay there any longer, so the general quickly departed to the cities of Kazgral and Barakdal with the army. Riyal had been also attacked, but it was the capital, the security was much tighter and there was no need to defend it. Merick even received a message the day before about the attack at Riyal. There, the undead and demons didn't even finish being teleported by the transfer gate before a squad of mages helped by the heavily armored royal guards pushed them back.

The king only talked for ten minutes with the general before he left, but even such a simple conversation tired him to the point that he needed to sit back for half an hour, before he could walk again.

Looking at himself, he felt like he was pathetic. But then again, he was old, and it was only a matter of time before he reached that state. If he didn't have to fight, he would have probably been able to rule as usual for five more years or so before his age caught up with him.

Armant's mission was even more crucial than before. Because now, a new king was needed, more than ever.

* * *

The Ridan territory. A very, very tempting prey for some.

First of all, it was very rich in minerals. That was one of the reasons the king could equip his armies with good equipment cheaply. Secondly, it is VERY hard to invade. The only entry point was the Jodal pass, the fortress city with the same name heavily defending it, to the point of a whole empire backing away before its might. The other borders were impenetrable mountains, so high that the tip couldn't be seen most of the times. And third, its technological and magical advancement.

Being a relatively small country, amidst bigger and stronger empires, the Ridans very quickly realized they stood no chance if they didn't do something. High priority had always been set towards technological research and magical knowledge. That way, the weak humans overcame their disadvantage in number and strength with fearsome weapons such as the magic cannons and devastating magic.

While other countries divided in political strife, racial hate and pointless war, the Ridans quietly stayed back in their mountains and valleys, improving their knowledge and applying it towards warfare.

Indeed, a very tempting prey. If the frontal assault couldn't work, the only way left was to attack it from the inside.

The various races inhabiting this plane of existence had different characteristics. Some were big and imposing, like the trolls. Some had an inherent ability to use magic, like the elves. Some had an ability to reproduce at an astonishing speed, like the goblins. Some could run nearly endlessly without tiring themselves, like the centaurs. But there was one rule, that all the mortal races had to comply with. It was the fact that at the end of their life expectancy, their body decayed and became weak, as if it prepared itself for death.

And despite the Ridan's efforts, the king's condition couldn't stay a secret forever.

Merick is an old human.

Merick was eager to defend his people, and inexplicably stopped in his tracks, sending a general in his place.

Merick avoided to meet people he didn't trust completely.

Arlette Electra, his wife, was seen carrying her alchemist's pouch in hurry once he got back to the capital, Riyal.

One thousand gold coins worth of medical supplies was bought by the palace.

And much more. Those were all rumors. Some were true, some were not. But there was too much of them for this to simply be a coincidence. Observations were made, theories told and conclusions drawn. In the end, it took merely a month for the secret to be exposed.

It was the worst case for Merick. It was untold, but Armant was the crown prince. It's just that Merick didn't officially announce it yet. But there lied the problem.

The ceremony to declare a descendant as a heir to the throne had to be made with the heir present. Merick was there at his ceremony, his father before, his grandfather and much more, up to the first Ridan king. King Merick simply couldn't announce Armant as the crown prince without him being present because it wouldn't be legitimate to the eyes of the nobles and the population.

But, if the old king happened to die before Armant came back, be it natural cause or not, the nobles would have to decide on someone to rule the country. This law had been written by the first king, if the current king died before declaring a crown prince. At first, it seemed like a good idea. But there were obvious flaws.

Most nobles were greedy for power, and placing a pawn as a king was the perfect way to gain absolute authority in the country. Factions could be made, civil wars could happen, and in the worst case, the kingdom would split into many kingdoms, each governed by a pretender to the throne.

This was a situation to be prevented at all costs.

* * *

But now was not the time for worries.

After a whole month of fighting, the cities assaulted by the demons and undead had been reclaimed, and the goblins pushed back from the Jodal pass.

Now was the time for celebration.

When the goblins lost half of their army, five million of them, they had to go back to Brolur. If they suffered more losses, they wouldn't be able to protect their borders. The Ridans on the other hand, lost 20 000 men. While it may seem like a big number, the strategists were relieved. Losing only 20 000 men when such a huge force attacked them was considered a victory. To compensate, 15 000 men and women had been recruited during the war, and were currently being trained. There was a little loss, but not enough for it to become significant in future wars.

Of course, they were a lot of grieving wives, lovers and families but such was the price of war.

Another day was given for people to rest, and finally the king made his speech.

The palace of Riyal was built on the side of the mountain the city was resting on. Towering spires reached unimaginable heights, firm walls supported the massive construction, and beautiful sculptures of mythical beasts adorned the roofs.

In front of the massive palace, there was a big place with a fountain in its center. Usually, there were only the royal guards and a few clerks walking, doing their duties. But today, it was swarming with people. Every square meter was covered by humans. Nobles, of course, but also common people, children, old men and grannies. Even a few dwarves and elves.

While Rida was mostly populated by humans, some members of other races rarely came to live there. It was harsh for them. But that was to be expected. When the great disturbance happened 600 years ago, Rida found itself surrounded by hostile countries. Being wary of everything and everyone became a habit for the human residents. Humanoid races like elves, dwarves, halflings and such were generally tolerated, but everything that looked even loosely to a beast or any other monster was forbidden from entry, only the diplomatic missions were accepted.

The palace's balcony faced the place. From there, the person talking could see everyone, and everyone could see him. On the balcony's railing, a short conical object was used as a speaker.

Finally, the king's delegation came. First, the music. A buggle call announced the king's arrival, causing everyone in the place to quieten. Then, two bannermen bearing the Ridan colors came, then the king, in front of the bannermen. Arlette Electra, the queen, was standing just behind the king.

The buggles stopped, and everyone focused on the king. Merick Electra looked at his people with a satisfied face.

"My people, I am pleased with you! You have, on this day, justified that when everyone looks at a Ridan, they see only fearlessness! Every enemy that has not been cut by your blades has either disbanded or run off! You have adorned the Ridan honor once more with an everlasting glory!"

A short pause.

"When I received this crown, 26 years ago, my father entrusted me with your lives. But I made the vow to keep all of you in rays of glory, which alone makes it worthy in my eyes. But at the same moment, our enemies wanted to place that crown on someone else's head. That crown that has been kept with the blood of so many Ridans! Rash and senseless endeavor, which upon this day you have dashed and confounded. Every person who fought! Every citizen that helped in the war effort! Every child that admired its heroes! You have taught them that it is easier to defy and to threaten us, than to defeat us!"

The place erupted in cheers, applauds, and excitation. Merick waited a moment for the commotion to calm down.

"Today, I declare! The goblin invasion has been fought off, and the darkness army has been purged! We won!"

Once more, everyone erupted in cheers. The king has successfully hyped up his citizen.

"Now, my citizen, enjoy this week of celebration! You all deserved it!"

The streets of the various cities across all of the kingdom were decorated with colorful flags. Bards, jesters and dancers were hired to perform, rare and expensive alcohols were drank like water. Big fires were lit up during the night, causing the party to never end.

During this blessed week, the citizens forgot about all their worries, their problems, only to enjoy the moment. The returning soldiers were treated like heroes, they received free food and drinks from the taverns, random people in the streets came to thank them. During the week, all sense of time was lost by the people celebrating.

When it ended, half of the population woke up stunned, with a general feeling of happiness and relaxation.

* * *

"*cough* What is the state of the…*cough*… nobles?

Merick was once again bedridden. The week of festivities had been too harsh on his body, and he had been forced to stay in his bed for two days now. In the dimming light of the evening, he was talking with someone.

At his side, the leader of the intelligence was kneeling. The leader was a woman in maid clothes. Her face and manners were so bland and common it was hard to believe she was nothing more than a maid from the commoners. And that skill was precisely the reason why she was the leader of the king's spy organization. She spoke in a serious voice, in contrast with her appearance.

"Count Marsh has received bribes from elven traders, and hasn't accepted them for now. Baroness Restra has invited a dark elf "friend". Unfortunately, we received the information too late, and we don't know about the content of their discussion. Lord Tezio has been approached by a cloaked individual, who passed him a sheet of paper. We couldn't see what was the content, but one of my agents heard something about land ownership. Countless other minor nobles have been approached by agents of other factions."

The king started rubbing his bearded chin, thoughtful.

"Do we have confirmation of nobles still loyal to me?"

"We know Baron Delvo received a bribe from centaur traders, and straight up imprisoned them. The Gert company has been approached too, but it seems trading with us is still more beneficial for them. And again, we can't verify every minor noble. But if you give me a month, majesty, I should be able to give results."

"Good. Now get some rest, you need it."

The woman looked at the king, a nearly invisible smile forming on her lips.

"Thanks, your majesty."

She bowed, and left the room quietly.

For Merick, what he just heard were good news and bad news. Count Marsh was a Noble that owned a large territory and was very influential in politics. Baroness Restra was the daughter of Merick's brother, long dead in battle. If she wanted to present herself for the crown she would have some legitimacy as she has some royal blood. And Lord Tezio, while not very interested in politics, was the lord of Draaks, the mining city. The biggest mines were on its territory, and the Ridan army needed all these ores to produce its equipment and ammunition. That made Lord Tezio a very important man for the country, as he could stop supplying the country in minerals if he wanted. Of course, there were other mines in the country, but none could match the ore extraction speed and cheap prices of Draaks.

But there was also good news. Baron Delvo was the lord of Jodal, the fortress city guarding the entrance of the country. If he was still loyal, no foreign army would go past Jodal without the king's authorization. And the Gert company was the richest trading company in the kingdom. They had a branch in every city, and it was said that they controlled a big part of the kingdom's economy. They had also ties to nobles, further strengthening their influence.

But there was also one thing that the king has that the nobles don't. That's the commoner's loyalty. It is pretty common in monarchies for commoners to dislike people of noble blood, because most of them don't see what the high hierarchy do for them. But Merick made sure to announce high and clear the reforms he made for them throughout his life. Walls and guard posts in each village, to defend from monster attacks. Roads, bridges, schools… He made a lot for them, and in return he was one of the most liked Ridan king, second only to the first king.

That way, it would be harder for a foreign agent to induce a revolt, and even easier for Merick to calm them down. But it also worked for the throne. Even if the commoners had no say in this matter, public pressure and rumors could damage a noble more than a physical wound could. If a pretender to the throne became too cocky, Merick could damage their reputation that way. And a noble's reputation was very important.

Now that Merick had a clearer view of his forces, he could launch the counter attack. But the seal that would solve the problem, was Armant. Merick really needed to announce his son as the heir to the throne, before an assassination attempt succeeded, or a coup d'état. Finding Armant was the key to the problem.

Someone politely knocked on the door. Merick clenched his fist on the handle of the dagger hidden behind the pillow. Even if he was severely weakened, he would not go down without a fight.

"Enter."

To his pleasure, his wife Arlette came through the door. She closed the door, and stopped a few feet away from him. She was wearing a simple yet elegant dark-green dress, covering her shoulders up to her feet. On her neck a necklace, golden with red and blue gems, and a golden diadem on her hair. A pouch at her side (which became her symbol among the population) contained a few bottles filled with colored liquids. Dark long brown hair, yet starting to lose its luster from the years. Her face didn't have the liveliness of her younger years, instead her features became sharper. Her mouth was small, her nose was short, but her eyes were so beautiful, Merick couldn't believe he got married to such a creature.

He loosened his grip on the dagger, intending to welcome her, but she spoke first.

"Merick, what if I was an assassin under an illusion? Ask the question, please."

The king sighed. This system had been devised by the two, for the two of them. The question was very intimate, so only the two of them knew the answer. Merick thought that was unnecessary precautions, but his wife was didn't want to let go, afraid for his life. Plus, Merick was pretty embarrassed by the answer.

"Fine… What did I tell you at the ball, the day Erina got conceived?"

Arlette blushed. It happened a long time ago, but she still remembered that night. It was pretty… _intense,_ after all. Trying to speak with a seductive masculine voice, she imitated Merick that night.

"I want to take you into a bedroom, lock the door, tear your clothes off, throw you on the bed and give you a time like you never had."

Merick turned his head, embarrassed by the memory. At that time, he was young and horny, the weather was perfect and they were both eager to do it.

"Correct… *cough*"

She walked with a worried expression. What happened before was amusing, but seeing him coughing reminded her of the seriousness of the situation.

"Here, drink these."

She took out three small phials from her pouch, opened them and gave them one after the other. Merick noted that there was one more than usual, but he drank them all anyway. He trusted his wife to the fullest.

The potion immediately eased his pain, to the point of him feeling like before the fight with the demon. Of course, he knew that was only thanks to the painkiller, so he didn't act rashly.

"Are you getting better?"

"A little bit… I feel less pain everyday, but I can only get better up to a point. What about you? I left you the reins while I rest after all…"

She sighed.

"The nobles, they're annoying. Oh, they're listening to me, that's for sure, but with you around things would go in a smoother manner. I can't recall how much problem we have with the minor nobles. They form alliances, break them, bribe and threaten, but they never do things that can be actually blamed… All bark but no bite."

He chuckled quietly.

"That's to be expected… Well, our kids are safe, at least. I didn't receive any signal, so it's fine."

The signal he was speaking of was a magic link to the mana crystal Erina received the day of her departure. It stored a tremendous amount of mana, but it could be also used as an emergency beacon if something bad happened.

"Yes, I hope they're alright."

She sat by Merick on the bed and caught his hand. She had to deal with annoying nobles all the day, and feeling the big warm hands of her husband felt relaxing. She felt like she was safe.

"I hope too… Do you remember the day Erina launched her first spell? She was so proud at that time… I think it was **[Illumination]** …"

Merick had a big smile on his face, even his bushy beard couldn't hide it.

"Yes, she was so cute, with that oversized archmagi hat she received from the school's director… And when Armant talked for the first time? I still remember it to this day…"

They spent almost half an hour talking about their children. Erina and Armant were their treasure, and they were very proud of them. As the conversation was starting to lose its momentum, Arlette got up and walked up to the door.

"Are you leaving?"

Without answering, she opened the door, spoke a few words to the guard outside, and closed back the door, then locked it. She looked at Merick with a flirtatious glance.

"Now then, your majesty, would you show me a "best time of my life" once again?"

Merick looked at his erected manhood. He now understood why she gave him one more potion to drink than usual. He raised his head, and looked at her with an inviting smile.

"Come now, my dear. Let me show you the might of a king…"

Needless to say, no guard or maid dared to interrupt the royal couple that night.

* * *

Three days later, in the throne room of the palace. The king was seated on his throne, the queen on a slightly smaller chair beside him.

The throne room was shaped like a rectangle, with the ruler at one hand, the important nobles seated on richly decorated chairs on the longer sides of the room, the minor nobles seated behind them on benches, and two royal guards in heavy armor guarding the door.

The important nobles numbered ten. Closest to the king, on the right part of the room were Baron Delvo, Count Marsh, Baroness Restra, Lord Lesym and Lord Wulfa. On the left side were Lord Tezio, Lord Sige, Countess Boley, Lord Acan and Lord Cuthel.

These ten people were the richest, most influential people in the country, excluding the king. Currently on a reunion concerning the aftermath of the goblin invasion, a heated argument was taking place.

"I tell you! If we let them do as they please, when will Jodal be overpowered? How long, until the walls get taken down? How long, until the secret of magic cannon production gets stolen by a spy?"

Lord Lesym, red-faced, was practically shouting at Lord Sige. Fadar Sige snickered, looking at lord Lesym with a condescending face.

"Jodal has held the green-skins at bay since the first attack, almost thirty years ago. Even if the magic cannons get produced by another country, our defenses will hold, right?"

Looking at Baron Delvo who simply nodded, lord Sige looked back at lord Lesym, who sighed with a tired face.

"That doesn't change my argument."

The two nobles sat back.

"If we only defend, our enemies will get bold, and attack us more and more. If we don't put on a show of force, it's only a matter of time before our doom."

The conversation went on and on, circling, never reaching a conclusion. Merick mentally sighed. This argument came back every time, after a goblin invasion got repelled. And never reached a conclusion, only "We will decide the next time.".

In fact, Merick wanted to strike back at the goblins, but that was simply impossible. The first reason was that the Ridan martial might relied heavily upon the usage of magic cannons. And each cannon was the size of a horse. If an army had to bring enough cannons to war, the marching speed would be divided at least by two. Secondly, the Ridan army was well equipped and trained, but not very large. 190 000 men.

Yes, that is a huge number. But considering that the goblins still had roughly five million soldiers, the Ridans would get simply overrun by the sheer numbers, no matter what the strategy used. Even more, the king would have to leave at least 20 000 soldiers in the country to protect it from monster attacks. Mercenaries could get employed, but they were expensive, and not that more powerful than the regular army.

Thirdly, was that even if they took the goblin territory, Merick would not have enough manpower to use it. Thanks to his policies, the food situation in Rida greatly improved, but there were still some winters where food was becoming scarce. Only a small amount of peasant could be moved without affecting the crop yields in the kingdom.

And lastly, the brolurian territory didn't have profitable resources. All they have is land, and herds of animals used to produce leather. It simply wasn't worth the damage the Ridan army could take.

The argument just went on and on, like always. More and more minor nobles were growing uninterested, and started discussing among themselves, adding to the unrest in the room. That was until Baroness Restra raised from her chair and intervened.

"ENOUGH!"

Her voice silenced everyone in the room. While usually only men could be the head of a family, Baroness Restra was at the head the only noble family with a matriarchal hierarchy. Her voice contained authority, and her bearing was that of someone used to being obeyed. In the now silent room, her voice echoed.

"I think it's now is not the time to discuss of that problem. We all know why we can't strike back at the goblins. Lord Lesym, please stop this useless argument."

The man spoken to just looked at the woman with an angry glare, before looking away. Merick spoke in the now silent room.

"Thank you, Baroness Restra."

She nodded politely and sat back in her luxurious chair.

"Since we ended the discussion, is there something else one of you would want to discuss about today?"

No one spoke, but Lord Wulfa moved. Ryany Wulfa was a peculiar noble, in the sense that he was a powerful mage, but he always wore a simple black robe with a rope to hold it in place at his waist. All the people that mocked his poor taste in clothes died in strange conditions, thus no one dared to mock him now. His long beard covered half of his face, but his bald head reflected the light from the windows, and his eyes conveyed a feeling of intelligence.

"Your majesty, may I?"

Merick raised his open palm in his direction, signaling him to speak. Lord Wulfa nodded politely and raised from his chair.

"My king, while I wish you a long reign, I cannot help but feel conflicted about the future of the throne. Your rule is wise and has resolved many problems our country faced before. And the prince and princess seem both to have received that wisdom of yours. I would be greatly reassured to know when and who will receive the title of heir to the throne."

Numerous approving whispers were heard in the room. It was a question that they had asked among themselves a lot of times, but it was the first time a noble had the guts to directly ask the king publicly.

However, there was a reason Merick avoided answering until now. And now that all the nobility was focused on him, he had no choice but to give an acceptable answer. He sighed mentally. He couldn't avoid it anymore.

"Rest assured, lord Wulfa. I have narrowed the list to a few names. I need a few months, and shall be able to give you an answer."

Ryany nodded, accepting the answer, and sat back. However, he was part of the minority. Most of the minor nobles whispered in a discontent manner. Some of the major nobles weren't happy too, but they couldn't voice it in front of so much people.

Merick was about to announce the end of the meeting, when Lord Cuthel raised from his chair. He was a fat man, and his clothes reflected his huge wealth. He was also known to be brutally honest when talking, even to the king. But he owned a large territory, and he was rich.

"Your majesty!"

Everyone quieted, listening to the man.

"You intend to make your son, Armant Electra the heir, right?"

There was a moment of silence.

"He is on my list of candidates, yes."

"Then, where is he? Where is the supposed heir to the throne when the nation most needs him?"

"I didn't-"

"We all know Armant is going to be the heir to the throne. Why delay the ceremony?"

The room was dead quiet. Even for his reputation, Lord Cuthel wasn't that harsh usually. One of the royal guards walked away from the door, putting his hand on the hilt of his sword.

"Watch your language, you're speaking to the king!"

The man looked at the guard.

"You, watch your language. You're speaking to the man representing the Cuthel family!"

Merick couldn't tell that Armant was sent away, because Lord Cuthel was right. Sending the heir to the throne on a dangerous trip was the mark of an irresponsible man. But that was because the king's plan didn't work.

At first, Merick wanted to send his son away exactly for this reason, for the nobles to grow restless and reveal who or which country was backing them, thus allowing the king to know who was a traitor. But the goblin invasion had thwarted all his plan, making the nobles grow restless way sooner than expected. From the king's prediction, the nobles would start eying the throne in about 8 or 10 months, giving enough time for Armant to come back, and be safely crowned. But now, Merick would have to hold on the throne for a long time. And a lot of things could happen during that time.

Lord Cuthel looked back at the king, with a triumphant expression on his face.

"Or could it be, Armant isn't in the country, right now? Sent, to whatever destination? In that case, forgive my words, your majesty, but you are old and sick, and I do not think you are able to lead the country anymore!"

Gasps and whispers were heard all over the room. The fat man had just straight up insulted the king.

Refuting the accusation would be futile. Merick had intentionally spread the secret of Armant leaving. And using his authority to silence lord Cuthel right now was not something he could do. It would reduce the trust the nobles had in him. After all, if he could silence someone just like that, what kept him from doing the same with the others? What kept him from ignoring what the nobles had to say? He needed all the court's trust. But lord Cuthel went too far.

"MY SON!..."

The king's shout interrupted the impolite man, as he was not expecting the king to answer.

"My son is away, that is true. However, he is safe, and in no immediate danger. He is away, and I am still able to rule like I always did, Lord Cuthel, I can guarantee it on my name. Unless you have doubts about it, in which case I could be happy to hear them."

The fat man slowly backed away. Even if there was unrest, there was still the fact that Merick was loved by the population and by a majority of nobles. Right now, he felt the glares of the people watching him as if he was stabbed. If he kept arguing with the king, he would tarnish too much his reputation.

"No… No, your majesty. I believe you are able to rule wisely. Forgive my outburst."

He sat back in his chair, disgruntled. Merick enjoyed the silence for a moment.

"I declare this post-invasion meeting closed!"

This time, it seems no one would interrupt, and everyone left, deeply thinking of today's revelations.

A few minutes later, only stayed Merick Electra, Arlette Electra and the two guards. The king sent them away, and sighed. The queen looked at him, smiling.

"Even if they're traitors, they're still respecting you. So I wouldn't expect a rebellion anytime soon."

Merick looked back at her.

"You're right… But because of Cuthel, now a lot of them will try to get themselves or their pawn on the throne. Still, we need Armant back. And quickly."

Arlette's face steeled, this was a serious problem.

"You're right. Can our spies find them quickly?"

"From the reports I received, they formed a group called "Wolf fang", and they have started to make themselves quite a reputation. I don't think it will be hard to find them. The true problem is for them to find a way back here. The spies think they got teleported in the former sanctuary of Telesto. They just need to find ruins of one city or castle and they should be able to get back if the teleport gate isn't damaged."

The queen was relieved. The former sanctuary of Telesto was very important, before the great disturbance. At least a few ruins should still have an intact teleport gate.

"Come on, let's go."

The king raised from his chair and offered his hand to help her get up as well.

"We still have that dinner with the man from the Gert company. And I don't want to lose the support of such an influential commercial power."

The royal couple left the room, and the door closed in a loud bang. The sound echoed in the now empty room. Rays of the sunset went through the windows, lighting the dust that swirled lazily in the room.

Suddenly, the dust floating in the air was disturbed, and spinned furiously, before resuming its lazy unpredictable dance. Even to the trained eye, nothing could be seen. Yet, something was definitely happening.

A shape started to appear. A humanoid shape, yet it seemed smaller than a human. Strangely, the being remained hard to see, as if it was behind a curtain. Only the overall contour could be made out. It whispered in a high-pitched voice.

"Master will be pleased, Hehehe… Time to get to work."

The being climbed easily one of the walls, and faded back into the shades.

* * *

A few hours later. Merick and Arlette were lying on their bed. Processing what happened today. The meeting with the nobles had been a disaster for Merick, as now the nobles were probably more eager to strike deals with people from other countries now. But on the brighter side of things, he persuaded the man from the Gert company to keep trading with the Ridan nobility instead of foreigners.

A polite knocking was heard, and a maid entered. She walked up to the bed, and kneeled.

"Your majesty, the closest teleport gate to the Telesto sanctuary we know of is at least four months of travel on feet from there."

Merick sighed, unhappy. The former Telesto sanctuary had a lot of cities, and all the nearby ruins the Ridan spies discovered back numbered three. The first was deep under the surface of the sea, in the lagoon separating the "Holy kingdom", so it couldn't be reached. The second had been totally razed, and the third had it's teleport gate too damaged.

"Send your men to inform Armant, Erina and Wilhelm of what is happening. They will have to find a new ruin, and hope for the teleport gate to be intact. And also, keep Lord Cuthel and Lord Wulfa under a tight watch."

"It shall be done, your majesty."

The head of the king's spies raised from her kneeling position, bowed again and left the room silently. Now, the only thing left that Merick could was arming himself with patience, and wait.

* * *

At the same time, in a dark bedroom. An angry fat man, was fuming, angered at everything and everyone. Under him on the bed, was a naked, bloodied, dark-skinned beastwoman in skimpy clothes.

"How does he dare talk back to ME!"

He punched the woman, enjoying the feeling of powerfulness. The dark-skinned woman didn't even react, probably long unconscious by now. The service was proposed by the high-end establishment only to its richest customers.

Comically, he was so big his body fat wiggled every time he moved abruptly.

Suddenly, a place of swirling blackness opened, like a tear in reality. The sound of clashing dimensions caught his attention, and he quickly draped himself with the cover of the bed. When a person of such a caliber came, it required a minimum of respect.

A hooded figure came through the gate. The figure turned its face toward the unmoving body on the bed, and spoke in a spectral voice.

"I didn't know you had such… Likings."

The fat man was now trying to kneel, and bowed his head.

"Anyway, it's not like it's important. Did you defy the king?"

"Of course, of course! I did as you asked, my lord!"

The hooded figure extracted a small pouch from the shadows of its cape, and threw it on the bed. Its hand was small, like if it dried up.

"Here's the first part of the payment. Be sure to follow the plan as asked. And, just before I leave…"

The figure walked up to the door to the room, and opened it brutally. There, a maid who was leaning against the door fell on the ground. She looked at the figure, panicking, but it caught her by the throat and started to strangle her.

"Looks like we have a little rat infestation to clear there."

Finally, the maid stopped struggling and fell limply on the ground. The figure caught her, and walked to the portal.

"Enjoy…"

The hooded figure holding the maid disappeared through the gate. Lord Cuthel opened the pouch with trembling hand, and saw what was inside. He chuckled, closed back the pouch and resumed his torture on the slave tied to the bed.

* * *

Somewhere far, far away. In a brightly lit room. A humanoid was sitting on a comfortable-looking couch, and was writing something on a sheet of paper. It had a thick metal plated tail, an orange suit and glasses that covered his crystal-like eyes.

Demiurge raised a hand to his temple, receiving a message. He put back his hand on the table when the message finished, and flashed a smile.

"Looks like everything is according to the plan."

The heteromorph was proud of himself. Lord Ainz had ordered him to conduct the annexation without killing anyone. But if he made them kill each other, he would still be respecting his master's orders, right?

* * *

 **Hello there, author here,**

 **The next part of the unrest in the Rida kingdom. I had a bit of a slump for two weeks, where I couldn't find ideas to write, hence the longer release time.**

 **As usual, I try to proofread these stories, but english is not my mother language, so a few errors might have slipped in, sorry.**

 **I hope you liked what you read, if you have any question, post it in the comments I answer them all by PM.**

 **also, WE REACHED MORE THAN 10K VIEWS! Thank you so much! Currently, 34 people have favored this story, and 54 people are following it! It may not seems like much for you, but for me it's awesome. Knowing that so much people are appreciating what I create is very rewarding!**

 **Don't hesitate to comment, I like feedback, be it positive or negative.**

 **Have a nice day/night, and see you next publication!**


	12. Chapter 11: Our for a stroll, are we?

_Summary of the last chapters:_

 _While Merick fights for his kingdom, "Wolf fang" has come back from the werewolf subjugation, and is enjoying a well-earned rest. Invited by Gazeff Stronoff to a party, Erina finds a ring from a set of items, which is sentient. The ring then tells her where is the next item of the set. They are now on a journey to find all the items of the_ set.

* * *

In the dark night, the fire crackled. Erina watched it, mesmerized by the dance of the flames. A month ago, she had the dream where the sentient ring told her where were the other items of the [Power of the reckless one] set.

It took them 20 days of travel to reach the place pointed by the ring. They crossed the whole Re-estize kingdom from east to west, and half of the republic's territory. Following the instructions of the ring, they arrived at a battlefield. The werewolf infestation had taken over a noble's territory, and according to the ring the next item was in this area. It wasn't hard for them to suppose that it was in the castle.

The republic's army recruiter was reluctant to hire them at first. Most of the republic's inhabitants were beastmen, while humans are minority. And it is widely known that a beastman is stronger than a human. But the fact that they were adventurers with the Platinum plate, and that they looked to wear expensive equipment, made him hire them. That, and a few gold coins.

Having been hired, Erina was surprised at the fact that human and beastmen adventurers were not so different. She would have expected to have some difference, but apart from the look and of course the culture, they weren't so different, particularly for the adventurer's guild where the structure was basically the same. A guild leader, the guild clerks who receive the quests and administrate, and adventurers who accept the requests.

A friendly beastman explained them why. The adventurer's guild was exclusive to humans when it was first created. Seeing that it worked wonderfully and made the territory safer, the beastmen from the Algrand republic made their own adventurer's guild, basing it on the ones existing in human countries. Still, they were much less influential.

While in human countries, adventurers could reach a certain social status when having higher plates, in the republic, adventurers were seen as nothing more than cheap mercenaries, and could never hope to reach a noble standard.

Hired by the beastman army, which won against the werewolves in a week, they got to infiltrate the noble's castle during the battle, and steal the belt of the set. Just like the ring, the belt looked like a normal leather belt, and was easily smuggled out once the battle was finished.

The day tomorrow, "Wolf fang" received its pay and started walking back to E-asenaru, a city from the Re-estize kingdom the closest to the border of the republic. And that night, Erina received the clue regarding the location of the third item of the set.

Just like last time, just after closing the entrance of the tent and starting dozing off.

"Congratulations, Erina. I truly chose a good mage."

Even if she expected the voice in her dreams, it still surprised her. Slowly, a light poured out of an unknown place above, lighting the puddle-like mirror where her reflection spoke. The reflection's voice echoed in the dream, strengthening the feeling of emptiness.

"You now possess the ring, and the belt of the reckless one. Your mana pool has been improved once more, along with the destructive power of your spells. Now, I assume you want to know where my other parts are. I do remember that mortals are impatient after all."

Erina nodded. Even if she wasn't power-hungry, the image of her being the owner of a set, even more a sentient set, had awakened her greediness.

"The next item should be far to the east, at least a month's travel at walking speed. However, I feel that there is something strange. I feel a form of magic, hindering my localization. If we get closer, I should be able to pinpoint the location more precisely."

The mage had an annoyed expression on her face. She had always studied magic, physical strengthening was very rare for her. The trip from E-rantel to this place had already strained her legs, and the thought of having to walk once more for a whole month made her already tired. But something tugged at a corner of her mind.

"Why did you appear now? I recovered the item yesterday…"

The reflection smiled.

"Do not worry, mortal. It's just that my intervention in your mind will take a toll on your body. And last night, you were so tired I felt pity for you, and I didn't want to tire you further. Good luck…"

Before she could even react, the puddle-like mirror faded away, and she woke up, panting.

"Everything alright?"

At her left, Armant opened his eyes to and asked her.

"Yes, yes, I'm alright. I just received the clue regarding the next item. And I need some fresh air."

Armant simply nodded, and dozed back off into sleep.

Erina pulled off the cover, and went outside, enjoying the fresh spring temperature. The snow had melted, the nights became warmer, but the fading winter temperature seemed to persist, as if on a last stand. Going back inside to fetch a cover to drape herself with and a map, she sat by the fire.

As she was about to open the map, she heard armored steps. Turning around and making fat electrical sparks pouring out of her hands, she prepared to turn the unknown into a pile of ash. But she reabsorbed the mana when she recognized Wilhelm in full armor, except the helmet.

"Wow, calm down, your majesty."

Erina chuckled quietly.

"Can't sleep?"

"Yes, I received the clue regarding the next item of the set. It said it was "far to the east, at a month's journey at waking speed.""

She opened the map and examined it. Wilhelm crouched beside her, looking at the map too. Erina made the travel plan, following the places on the map with her finger as she spoke.

"First, we go to E-asenaru, then Re-boulorel, Re-estize, E-pespel, and E-rantel. At that point, if I didn't receive a new clue from the ring, we'll just head towards Arwintar, in the Baharuth Empire."

Wilhelm followed the plan on the map.

"Couldn't we go through the Arzelisia mountains? I heard from a trader that dwarves live there…"

Erina considered the proposition for a moment.

"No, it's not safe. Yes, we are used to mountains, but we don't know if there's a safe passage, we don't know if the dwarves are friendly, and if they are, we don't know if they will accept to lead us through the mountains. Plus, you know better than me the dangers of mountains."

What she just said was true. Rida was mostly a mountainous country. And the Ridans were people used to the harsh conditions. Wilhelm even more. Wilhelm's grandfather was a guard in a border fort, and he told stories that fascinated the younger Wilhelm. Travellers getting attacked by bandits, paths blocked by an avalanche or a falling rock, fearsome creatures like giant eagles, yetis and stone giants. And the perfect hiding place for bloodthirsty cults, harpy tribes and such… Indeed, the mountains are not a safe place.

Perhaps the Arzelisia mountains were safer than the mountains back in Rida, but that was a dangerous bet to make.

"You're right, let's go through the land. But what about E-rantel? We all heard rumors, right? About that undead sorcerer king who massacred the majority of the Re-estize kingdom's army and seizing the city. Will it be alright?"

"It's hard to believe he could do so much damage in a single spell. I think the survivors are just making this up to explain their defeat. It's more likely he cast a powerful spell, killing a lot of them, obtaining an army of undead, killing even more of them, etc… We'll hear the rumors as we make our way, and decide where to go based on that. We will probably have to sneak our way through E-rantel's territory, but I still think it's safer than the mountains."

The knight nodded, understanding her explanation. It was indeed the most logical path to take. He felt sleepy, and it was now Erina's turn to watch the encampment.

The mage folded back the map and grabbed her staff, watching the surroundings, while Wilhelm yawned and went inside the tent to sleep.

* * *

The journey towards E-rantel was a long one. Erina had thought that they would be able to take a contract to protect a merchant going to the city, but it was the opposite. Nearly every merchant was running away.

As they walked, the rumors became more precise too. At first, they heard what they expected to hear.

"A lich has taken over E-rantel, massacring the inhabitants!"

"The army of the Re-estize kingdom has been slaughtered. If the empire decided to attack now, we would be defenceless."

"E-rantel is lost. Even if we fight back the undead, the undead corruption is too dense."

However, the rumors started to change once they reached a minor trading city named Re-lebu, located between Re-estize and E-pespel. There, a merchant was boasting about his feats in the tavern, as the trio was eating its dinner.

"Haha! Fifty gold coins, that's my benefit only by selling grain!"

A person who also looked like a merchant sat at the same table spit back the mead he was drinking, and coughed.

"That much? Only for grain? How?!"

Eager to boast about his luck, the first merchant smiled and drank in one go his tankard of mead.

"Haaa, how good it feels to be rich! You know E-rantel, right? Well, it's-"

A third merchant at the same table hit the table with his fist.

"Ricio, shut up! Everyone's listening to us!"

Looking around, the first merchant could confirm. With the exception of a couple of drunkards singing in the back, everyone lowered the voice of their conversation to listen, as fifty gold coins was not a small sum. Even a suspicious-looking person fingered the dagger at his waist with a little smile.

The merchants quickly lowered the volume of their conversation as well. Hearing as they wouldn't disclose any more information, the crowd slowly regained its previous volume.

When they finished, Erina gave the bartender a silver coin, who confirmed the man's saying. It was not the first time a merchant who came from E-rantel had struck rich.

As they made their way to E-rantel, the rumors became even clearer. In E-pespel, the number of merchants and emigrants coming from the city was greater. It was confirmed that the sorcerer king was an undead. However, a minority also said that he treated the inhabitants with fairness, and didn't kill the citizen randomly. Some even said that the conditions of life were better than in the kingdom.

For Erina, Armant and Wilhelm, all those rumors were hard to trust. Because a powerful undead was absolutely never a positive thing. In Rida, even if a sentient undead wanted to pass some sort of contract, a force was always sent to kill the creature before it could accomplish anything. And it was the same in the part of the world they were currently in. The universal hate the undead had for the living was well known after all.

Yet, people told stories about prosperity and security. They were afraid of course, but safe. During dinner, Erina wanted to confirm those rumors. In the tavern, there were a lot of depressed people who had to flee, but also mages from the mages guild, adventurers and some other people.

She interrupted a young man in his meal to accomplish her goal.

"Excuse me mister, are you a merchant?"

Of course, Erina already knew he was a merchant. He had no weapon, wore travelling clothes and she saw him park his cart into the stables just before entering the tavern. The fact that he spent a lot and that his clothes were in pristine condition showed a man that had struck rich very recently.

"Yes, I am. Do I have some business with you, Miss…?"

From his tone, it was obvious he was trying to sound like an important trader. But he looked barely twenty, and youth could be heard in his voice.

"You can call me Erina. I wanted to ask some questions about E-rantel, if I do not bother you…"

"Of course. In fact, this dinner will surely be more enjoyable in your company. What questions does a beautiful maiden like you can have to ask?"

Dismissing his obvious attempt at flirting, she sat by him.

"I heard a lot of rumors concerning E-rantel recently. Is it true that the sorcerer king treats his subjects fairly?"

The man spoke while he struggled to cut a piece of meat with a dull knife.

"Ah, I understand your curiosity. Not a lot of people can think that an undead could rule the living with such kindness. Yet, it is true. The undead king rules his people fairly. And not only humans, but also demi-humans, and even monsters! I was scared when I saw a bunch of goblins walking in the city, but no inhabitant cared, so I thought that they wouldn't attack me. And I was right!"

He finally managed to cut the meat, but spilled some beans over as he had to force. Quickly chewing on the piece of meat, he chose to turn his appetite to the remaining beans on the plate.

"Frankly speaking, it's terrifying. You know what is a death knight?"

A particular memory came back to Erina. Ten years ago, a death knights had somehow passed the mountains separating Rida from the rest of the world, and slaughtered two entire villages, raising an army of zombies in their trail. Her father had to order a whole company of mages to go deal with them, along with two thousand heavy infantries, and some clerics.

In the end, they destroyed the undead, but roughly three hundred men died from the death knight alone, while the mages bombarded the undead. It took 100 mages, 2000 heavy infantry and 50 clerics to kill a death knights and an army of zombies.

Erina didn't see the battle, she was still quite young after all, but the number of dead soldiers alone spoke of how powerful a death knight was.

"Yes, A death knight? I read once about them in a book."

She couldn't tell she knew what exactly was a death knight was so she lied. And it looked the young merchant was sad. He liked to impress people with his description of such a powerful undead.

"Well, they are used as mere guards! That's right, such a powerful undead, only to prevent crime. Liches are used to do the administrative work, and undead horses are used as a transportation method. Frankly, I don't think they're mere reanimated horses, they look much more powerful. But I'm not really knowledgeable on the subject."

She was shocked. Her mind simply refused to imagine such powerful creatures used to such simple tasks. A death knight is really a powerful being. And a lich, while not really dangerous by itself, could become deadly if given time to raise an army of undead.

"That can't be true…"

Her mouth formed an awkward smile, while she tried to process the information. The merchant smiled out of satisfaction, seeing Erina's expression.

"I've been there myself. It's the reason I'm such a successful merchant. Not much of us stayed in E-rantel, so the people who had the guts to stay like myself have all the opportunities. Before the sorcerer king took the city, I only had a small cart I had to pull myself, and could only afford to pay iron ranked adventurers to protect me while I travelled. Now? I have my own horses to pull a large cart, and I don't even need adventurers to protect me anymore. The sorcerer king's army wiped the territory clean of any dangerous monster and bandits."

She massaged her temple, before trying to reflect on the information. No, that's not something she could imagine. Her skin now pale, she turned to face the young merchant.

"Thanks… It's been…Very instructive. But I think I need some rest… Yes, some rest."

The merchant smiled in a disappointed manner.

"Oh well. It's been entertaining to speak to such a fair lady. Have a good night!"

Erina nodded, before heading to her bedroom. She needed definitely to confirm those rumors. The young man seemed honest. But Erina had always been very curious. She saw that curiosity as a gift of the gods, as she never tired of learning new things. But right now, that curiosity was more like a curse, urging her to go to E-rantel to satisfy her thirst of the unknown, despite the danger.

In her feverish curiosity, she urged the two men to go early in the morning, while she could barely get some sleep. E-pespel and E-rantel were roughly at a day and half of travelling apart, but because of Erina and her insistence they reached the fortress city during the night of the same day.

Strangely enough, there was a big flat slab of stone near the gate, and it looked to be recent. Erina supposed it was to put maybe a statue on later.

During the night, the gate was closed, and they had to camp outside a last time. The two men grumbled, the day had been very tiring, constantly walking, only taking a few minutes of rest to eat. But they were not the only travellers who came too late. They were three tents around the campfire that night. One of them was a merchant who came from the Baharuth Empire, and had hired adventurers. Thanks to them, the trio could get a full night of sleep. Well, not everyone.

Erina stayed up at least until midnight, watching the mysterious city, imagining what secrets were to be discovered, what things could be learnt from an undead who had lived probably for centuries.

* * *

When morning came, as the sun slowly passed the horizon and lit the city walls, the trio ate a quick breakfast and waited for the gates to open.

Finally, some steps, then a yawning, and other steps, fading behind the closed gate. It seemed the guards on night duty had been replaced, and the gates finally opened, the hinges creaking under the gate's weight.

The guards groaned, pushing the heavy gates. Then, what seemed like the sergeant came to meet them.

"Welcome to E-rantel, city of the Sorcerous kingdom. What are you here for?"

Erina stepped forward, representing "Wolf fang".

"We're adventurers. We heard that most adventurers fled the city, and thought that there would be opportunities to catch."

The man looked at her chest, confirming that an adventurer plate was hanging on her neck. His gaze discreetly moved down, to the two modest hills she had. Then, he cleared his throat.

"Is it your first time here?"

"You mean, since the sorcerer king's occupation? Yes."

"Then walk this way, please."

Obeying the guard's instructions, they entered in what looked like a guard post. The guard then explained.

"Life in E-rantel is very different than the life in other cities. In order to go inside, there's a small mandatory lecture."

"We have no choice I guess."

As she was about to say something else, the guard spoke once again.

"Can you please leave your weapons into our safekeeping?"

This time, Wilhelm answered. His axe was a weapon with no equal in its field, and he would not surrender it easily. Same for Armant, with his mechanical crossbow. Only he knew how to handle and maintain it, and he didn't like giving it to anyone else, even for a short time. Erina didn't really care, because even without a staff, she could cast spells. The only drawback would be that she would have to focus more intensively and she would not benefit from the staff's enchantment.

"Is it really necessary? We're adventurers. Our weapons are our only way of earning coins."

The man sighed, massaging his temple.

"It's always the same with adventurers… I'm only proposing this to you for your own safety. But since you're platinum-ranked adventurers, I guess you will know how to control yourself. Hear my only advice, and I'm telling this to save your lives. Do. Not. Draw. Your. Weapons. Inside."

Wilhelm thanked him, toying with the axe's blade.

A door to their side opened, and a monster came out of it. There was no other way of describing it. A hulking body, entirely covered in a dark armor. The armor itself was decorated with what looked like red veins, running on its surface. A waved blade hung at the monster's side, and its face, oh, its face was far more fearsome than what they ever saw.

A dried, dark skin, two deep holes for eyes, with a purplish tint, reflecting its hate for every living being. A death knight.

"Do not draw your weapons!"

Erina looked at her side and saw Wilhelm, with his axe's handle already half taken out of the belt. The monster looked at him, and it required all of Wilhelm's willpower just to stay up. He slowly put back the axe in its buckle, and the pressure he felt slowly faded away, only to be replaced by a cold feeling of dread.

"I don't want to see that happen again. Go inside, quickly, I have other travellers to manage!"

They looked at each other. Wilhelm was still recuperating from his near-death experience, and Armant's skin had become pale. Erina looked at them for a moment, then she sighed and stepped forward, mumbling.

"Bunch of cowards…"

Of course, she was also afraid, but not for the same reasons. From what she deduced, the monster was a powerful undead under the sorcerer king's command. And if they were still alive, that meant that it didn't receive the command to attack. And it probably wouldn't until they did something to provoke it.

What she feared however, was that she felt a strong mana pressure around her. That meant one thing. A lot of spells were active in the city. Protection, monitoring, air cleansing or torturing spells, who knows? But there were definitely a lot, active and doing what they were cast for.

She walked by the undead. She still felt anxious, but she arrived in the other room with no trouble, and looked behind her. The knight seemed to have steeled his resolve, and Armant was relieved when seeing that no harm came to Erina. To their surprise, a naga came from another door. She seemed to be a woman judging by the tone of her voice.

During the next half an hour, they were explained what to do, and what to not do. They felt a mixture of surprise, fear, shock, anticipation and excitement. However, they could not contain their gasps when they heard the naga woman speaking about "Not minding the occasional dragon flying over the city, as they were under the sorcerer king's command.".

A dragon was a moving calamity. One dragon could reduce an entire city to ashes. One dragon could slaughter an entire army, and eat its remains to grow even more powerful. Fortunately, Rida never had to deal with dragons. But they heard tales of them in neighbouring countries.

For a single man to be able to control dragons, a race known for its stubbornness and proudness, spoke alone of how powerful the sorcerer king was.

Finally, the naga woman finished her lecture with a statement.

"Believe me, there is no future for those who oppose the sorcerer king. You will only want to beg for forgiveness of you ever do something that might trouble him."

She left the room with a sad smile, and "Wolf fang" was let free on the street. Originally, they only needed to go to E-rantel to stock up on supplies, but they decided to stay for a day, curious about how was the city life.

As they walked up to the adventurer's guild building, they were surprised as how…Normal, was the city.

They saw mostly humans, presumably the former inhabitants. There were some dwarves, managing skeletons doing ground work. They saw an elf, playing a lute and singing in a tavern. They saw a group of six goblins, heavily armed and armored. It reminded Armant of a picture of Brolurian elite troops he saw in a strategy book once.

But the most fearsome were definitely the king's death knights. It seemed the inhabitants had become used to them, because they didn't flee in terror when one was walking near them. But they remained a source of anxiousness. When a death knight got near, there was always a circle, devoid of anybody around it. Children stopped laughing and ran back to their mothers. Dogs started growling or weeping. Cats hissed, before running away. Men put themselves between the creature and their wife.

But Erina could see that the undead king made efforts to induce slowly the different races to blend into together. They even heard about an orphanage, led by a subordinate of the king. Apparently, a maid of stunning beauty.

When they arrived at the adventurer's guild, they got surprised at how the contrast was with the city. While they city remained relatively normal, the adventurer's guild became an empty shell.

Before the sorcerer king's arrival, it was a lively, warm building with a lot of activity. But now… A few groups were seated around some tables, but the majority were empty. The warm atmosphere had been replaced by a feeling of desperation. The guild clerks were bored to their wits. The request board was desperately empty, and no new adventurer came to register. All the monster subjugation quests had been resolved by the king's army.

When talking with the guild members, they understood why. Recently, a bunch of adventurers came from the Baharuth empire, taking the king's quests to "explore the unknown". The only adventurers who stayed here were those too weak to go on an exploration quest, or didn't want to leave that far.

The trio thanked them, before going to a close tavern to rent a room for the night. After dropping the travel bags, it took them until noon to buy all the supplies needed to travel, and they decided to separate for the rest of the day, to enjoy some relaxation.

While Wilhelm and Armant went to do whatever they wanted, Erina had a very specific goal in mind. In the adventurer guild, she wandered through the streets, enjoying the view.

It was truly a surreal experience. First, the inhabitant, seemingly living on like nothing happened. There were also beastmen, who would have attacked those humans not a month before if not for the sorcerer king's rule. Some undead, kept from slaughtering the inhabitants by the king's will. And some other humanoid races, like goblins, elves, dwarves and even a halfling.

She reached a place under construction, behind a fence. Getting up a bunch of crates, she saw that it seemed like a whole district was under construction.

"Oy, you there! Get down 'ere!"

A dwarf called to her as she was looking at the undead workers. He wore dirty leather clothes and his boots were filthy with mud. He was surely one of the workers of the site. She came down the crates, taking care not to trip.

"Whot are ye doing here, lassie?"

Erina smiled, trying to reassure him.

"Oh, nothing, really. I'm sightseeing the city, and that construction site intrigued me."

The dwarf smiled as well, reassured. Of course, a person with bad intentions would never tell what he wanted to do, but it was nicer to speak with a polite person rather than an ill-mannered thug. And what he was doing was no secret.

"The Pauper's district. We're tearin' it down, ta build houses for demi-humans."

"And what of the former residents?"

"Dunno. I 'hink they were sent ta close villages…"

He was about to continue on the discussion, when he suddenly looked at a skeleton on the other side of the fence.

"Puke fo' brain! Ya'r not supposed to take don' that wall, bloody idiot! Stop!"

He ran towards the entrance of the site, grumbling all the insults he could think of in his beard.

A bit amused by the scene, Erina left with a smile. When she thought about it, it made sense. A lot of people fled from their villages when they heard that the kingdom's army was defeated. And a lot of unemployed people stayed in the pauper district of any city. She was not sure if everyone wanted to go farming, but considering how the sorcerer king treated his subjects it was unlikely they were treated as slaves.

Going on in her exploration, she reached the mage's guild. But it was empty. A derelict shell, with no one inside except a few rats. It made sense too. A lot of adventurer's fled, but the mages all fled, with no exception. Hoping for the best, she walked in the empty corridors. But there was no one and nothing. The shelves of the library were empty. The jars of the alchemy department had nothing inside, only a faint scent of herbs. Even the former office of the guild head was empty. Just a common wooden table, in the middle of a room with no furniture.

A little bit disheartened by her fellow mage's cowardice, she continued walking towards the market this time.

Despite an undead king ruling the city, the market kept his livelihood. Merchants shouted to attract customers, citizen haggled the prices down with the stubborn merchants, and a few death knights remained in the corners to ensure nothing was stolen.

Walking through it, she became curious when she saw a merchant, different than the others. He wore luxurious clothes, and his wares all looked weird.

"Hello, my lady. Have one of my wares caught your attention?"

She looked at the wares, curious.

"What's that? Isn't that only a box? Why is it 20 gold coins?"

The man smiled.

"Ah, I see you've never been to the empire. This is a "refrigerator". It helps to keep your cooking ingredients fresh longer, by placing them in this box."

He opened the box, and Erina felt a cold breeze coming from inside.

"It has been enchanted to keep things cold, so they stay edible longer. It has been created by a beastman, the "Minotaur sage" a long time ago. What he created is weird and expensive, but useful."

She looked at the box, with a curious expression.

"Interesting. Are there other objects like that?"

The merchant spent ten minutes with Erina, describing objects like "fan", "micro-wave" and "ice-maker". They seemed pretty useless to Erina. Every effect those objects had could be achieved with a single first or second tier spell. But she guessed that it was a mark of prestige for nobles, given their price. And useful for someone that didn't know how to do magic.

The merchant caught her attention when he mentioned a particular item.

"And have you seen that? What does it look like to you?"

Erina looked at the item he showed her.

"Well, it's a… Normal leather pouch?"

It looked like a simple leather pouch, closed by a tied rope. The merchant smiled. He untied the rope, plunged his hand into the pouch, and took out a stick. Except the stick was three times longer than the bag. Erina looked at the stick, puzzled.

"Hahaha, I love that expression! Sorry miss, I don't mean to offend you, I just find it amusing. This was also created by the Minotaur Sage. I don't know how, but apparently some godkins can store items in a particular way. They just need to put their hand into some kind of portal, and they can store items there. The minotaur sage thought that common people would enjoy that way of storing items. It's a "Bag of holding". Unfortunately, he only created one hundred of them. You can roughly store half a metric cube of items. Interested?"

That "Bag of holding" was VERY interesting to Erina. She was a mage, she had a hard time travelling with a heavy adventuring backpack. In fact, Wilhelm and Armant had to burden themselves with a part of her equipment, and she felt terrible because of that. And she was also interested because even in Rida, bags of holding didn't exist. It probably used some type of spatial magic, and spatial magic was the hardest to master. Even the most powerful Ridan wizards versed in spatial magic could cast spells of that type only to the fourth tier.

"It's yours for 40 gold coins. And I can cut down the price by one gold coin since you've been so pleasant to talk to."

Just as she thought, the bag of holding was very expensive. 39 gold coins represented more than half of Wolf fang's total funds. In fact, they would be only left with a meagre five gold coins if she bought it. But the price was also justified. If she bought it, the group could even enter a cave and fight without leaving their equipment outside and fearing it being stolen. She looked around her, making sure that no one would try to steal, and took out a big coin purse. She counted the coins one by one, and gave them to the merchant.

"Thank you! Here's your bag of holding. Have a nice day!"

Erina thanked him, and took the bag. She didn't fear being scammed because of the iron fist of the sorcerer king concerning regulation. If that man tried to scam his customers… No one could imagine what would happen if he got caught, but it was likely no one wanted to know either.

With the sun setting down, Erina made her way back to the tavern they had rented a room in. Wilhelm and Armant were interested too, as they never saw such an item. Back in the room, they were elated when they realized they could put pretty much all the equipment they needed inside.

The day tomorrow, as Erina didn't receive any new hint from the ring, they walked in the direction of Arwintar, the Baharuth empire's capital.

Passing briefly through the territory of the sorcerous kingdom, they saw that what they heard in the city was correct. Not once did they get attacked, be it by a group of bandits or some wandering monster. The closest they got to a dangerous situation was when a rabbit fleeing from a fox passed them. Not once did Erina's **[Alarm]** spell activate.

That was until they reached the Empire's border. The Baharuth Empire had recently become a vassal state of the sorcerous kingdom, but it didn't enjoy the security that could be found on E-rantel's region.

That was understandable. After all, the Empire stayed a human country, and had human levels of security that couldn't reach everywhere. The first city of the empire they reached was a small border town. It only deserved the adjective "town" because it was on a road that a lot of people travelled on, thus enjoyed a better income than the neighbouring villages. The town was currently suffering from bandits. Mainly ones that fled from the Sorcerous kingdom's territory. The town watch had trouble keeping them at bay, and a force of five hundred soldiers was said to come in a few days.

The prices for each bandit head had tripled, and the few bounty hunters and adventurers present already made a good amount of money in a short time.

Wolf fang decided to stay there too, to fatten up a little the group's coin purse. For three days, they hunted bandits. With Wilhelm to go into the fray, Erina to take them out in groups and Armant to shoot the ones trying to ambush them, it was easy work and easy money.

But after that time, the army sent by the empire arrived, and killed one by one the groups of bandits. The rewards became less and less, and the trio decided to resume their journey towards Arwintar.

On their way, Erina finally received the clue to the direction of the item. Like every time, the sentient ring appeared in her dreams as they camped near a river.

Used to those apparitions now, Erina waited for the reflection to appear in the vertical puddle. A shape appeared in the mirror, and took Erina's nude form.

"I see you're not as surprised as the first time, mortal."

Erina shrugged her shoulders.

"Adaptability is one of the few human strong points."

The reflection looked at her with an interested expression.

"It is true that I observed humans adapt to difficult situations. It is strange to think that such a weak and puny being could do so well in such an unforgiving world."

Erina was about to remind the sentient being that humans created many grand things, but she stopped herself at the last second. For a being that probably had been created centuries ago, seeing the short-life spanned humans fight for petty reasons and struggle to impose their societies gave the being a knowledge she didn't have. Instead, she nodded, acknowledging its experience.

"The next item I can feel is to the north of your current position, in a forest. I can help you no more about its localisation."

And just like that, the dream ended. The reflection faded away, the light disappeared, and Erina woke up in sweat as the sun seeped through the entrance of the tent.

During the breakfast, Erina looked at the map, searching for any point of interest. The only remarkable thing was a small patch of forest. Compared to the great forest of Tob, this one was way smaller.

Discussing with the two men, they decided to stop at a village near it, and then go directly into the woods. It took them a whole day to reach the village, where the village chief offered them a place to sleep. Talking with the villagers, they learned some new things about the forest. It looked like a normal forest on the outside, but once one walked deep enough, a thick unnatural mist would form and lead astray the travellers. Not much was known about it, and not much adventurers went inside to hunt monsters. There were sightings of trolls or ogres, but not one got back from it unharmed. It was with a little bit of worry that Erina fell asleep that night.

* * *

The next morning, they set forwards to the forest. Just as the villagers said, the outskirts seemed normal. Birds chirped in the morning, insects flew around busily and some animals could be heard running time to time. But as they walked, things changed slowly but surely.

The atmosphere darkened. At first, it couldn't be seen, or even felt. Just a slight decline of light. Erina noticed they reached the area described by the villagers when she couldn't hear the birds chirping anymore.

Erina shared her discovery with the two others, but they were already on their guards. They continued to walk, but the surroundings started to change drastically.

The forest thickened, to the point where no light seeped through the canopy of the trees. They didn't bring torches, and Erina had to use her staff to light the way. There was no grass, only barren earth, and the crooked branches of the trees reminisced them of fleshless fingers.

In this part of the forest, the trees were thicker as well, but not majestic. They gave a feeling of oppression. As if they wanted to suck out every ounce of life they could. The buzzing of flying insects was long gone. Only some spiders could be seen on nearly invisible spiderwebs time to time.

At some point, the darkness surrounding them reached a point where Erina had to react.

"That darkness isn't natural. Someone or something is tainting this forest to make it the way it is. Be careful, you two."

Nodding, the two men took out their weapons. Armant loaded his crossbow with expensive armor-piercing bolts, and Wilhelm could feel the sweat loosening his grip on the steel handle of his shield.

Even if they knew they wore better equipment than most of the powerful adventurers here. Even if they received the finest training that could be received. Even if the odds played in their favour in combat most of the times.

Here, none of these mattered. Even if they wanted to go back, they probably wouldn't be able to find their way back. As she pondered about the bad idea of coming here in the first place, Armant interrupted her train of thoughts and whispered loudly enough for them to hear.

"Wait! I… Sense something. Shadows are strangely shaped. There are unnatural sounds too."

Of the three, Armant had the best perceptive ability. Trusting his senses, they grouped together, back to back, each facing another direction. Wilhelm gripped his axe tightly. Armant shouldered his crossbow and tried to pierce the veil of darkness, trying to see where the feeling of danger came from. Erina poured more mana into her staff to power up even more the magical light.

Nothing could be heard. Nothing, except the sound of cloth when one moved, or Wilhelm's armor clanking when he turned his head.

Then the sound of heavy footsteps. A screeching, and the sound of wings flapping in mass. From everywhere. A flock of bats flew in circle above them, and the creature making the heavy footsteps sound revealed itself. An ogre, except it wore a crude metal armor covering its front and legs, with a menacing club in hand. Its eyes were red, and two fangs protruded out if its mouth. Another similar ogre appeared from the opposite direction. Even before the main culprit showed itself, Erina knew the nature of the enemy.

"Vampire. Watch out!"

From the shadows, a humanoid came, facing the mage.

"Oh, adventurers! It's always adventurers who trespass onto my lands. Tell me, mortals, what could you be doing here?"

It looked like a human, but its skin was pale, nearly white. Two red eyes glowed in the darkness, long hairs and a red cape covered the black light armor on his slim body. At his side a sickly looking curved sword hung.

Erina knew a few things about vampires. First: don't ever watch them in the eyes. They possess strong hypnotic magic. Second: always aim for a vital point, as a powerful regenerative capacity healed them. Third: fire. The most powerful magic against them is holy, or fire magic.

As an elementalist, Erina could cast magic from all the elements, but she focused strongly on the path of electromancy. And thus, only knew spells of the water, earth and wing type up to the fourth tier.

The situation was already pretty bad for the trio. A vampire, two armored ogres and a flock of bats was not an easy opponent. One had to consider too that the vampire was at a strong advantage, given that he knew the place better than Wolf fang.

But things took a turn for the worst. The male vampire smiled, and raised his voice.

"Brothers and sisters, let's feast!"

From the shadows, multiple vampires appeared. Ten more opponents came to the scale measuring the outcome of the fight, and made it crash down to the vampire's side.

"We must get out of here! **[Flaming aura]!** "

Wilhelm and Armant didn't need an explanation. Erina's spell released a heatwave around her, burning the dry wood on the ground near them. An intense heat was maintained, forcing the flock of bats to retreat for a moment. The spell wouldn't stop the ogres and the vampires, but it was better than nothing.

They started to retreat, trying to fend off the vampire's attacks. Seven had jumped into the fray, while three stayed in the back, probably ranged fighters. The vampire that greeted them first stayed in place, looking at the fight with a wicked smile.

At first, things seemed to go well. Wilhelm easily faced the vampires thanks to his superior equipment and combat techniques. Armant shot painful steel bolts into the beings of the night, and Erina used her spells as well as her staff to push them back. That was until the ogres came.

One of the three ranged fighters revealed itself to be a bowman, as a painful arrow to the leg made her trip and fall on one knee to the ground. Wilhelm cut a vampire's arms with a war cry, and turned his head to check if she was alright. But that was all that was needed for another vampire to land a heavy mace hit to the knight's helmet. Wilhelm staggered, unsure of his balance, while an ogre prepared a big swing with his stone club.

Normally, the knight would have been able to defend against such an attack. But the conditions were everything but normal. A vampire mage launched a spell to strengthen the ogre even more. The hit was then launched, and the club crashed into Wilhelm's side, sending him flying right into a tree.

Erina looked around, desperate. Without anyone to cover his flanks and back, Armant got quickly overrun and pinned to the ground.

At that moment, the mage wanted to help the two men. But survival instinct had taken over her body. And the survival instinct was screaming at her to get away as fast as possible.

The pain in her leg dulled by the adrenaline, she got up and cast **[Fly].** Right now, she wanted to leave as fast as possible. She wanted to fly away, to go through the canopy and feel the sun on her skin and never come back. But that was only wishful thinking.

As she cast **[Fly],** the **[Flaming aura]** ended, and the flock of bats didn't miss the opportunity. Countless bats flew to her and latched themselves on her, biting and scratching. Panicking, she dropped her staff and flailed her arms around, trying to protect her face.

Having completely lost her focus, she couldn't maintain the spell and crashed abruptly to the ground. Her vision blurry, she looked around. Only vampires, chuckling in an evil tone and looking at her with a lecherous glare.

Not able to cope up, her mind welcomed the sweet release of unconsciousness.

* * *

The cold sensation of bare stone on her back. A faint scent of rot. A taste of metal in her mouth. And when she opened her eyes, nothing except a sliver of light in the corner of her vision. A painful burning sensation in her leg which reminded her of the encounter with the vampires.

Such were Erina's first impressions when she woke up. She was lying on what looked like a stone slab.

Still disturbed by what was basically a kidnapping, she raised to a seated position and looked around herself. She was in a cave and the entrance was closed by a solid-looking metal grate. The small ray of light came from behind the bars, where she could hear a torch burning.

She wore nothing more than a piece of rough cloth, which probably was a potato sack before, and went up to mid-thigs. Nothing more. She could feel a cold wind blowing on her bare legs. It seemed like she had been healed, because there was no arrow, and a bandage with red spots was tightened on the location of the wound.

In front of her cell, there was another one. In it, an old man was looking at her. His white hair was nearly inexistent, and a long, dirty beard adorned his face. His eyes were lifeless, and a lot of teethes lacked in his mouth. When she raised and grabbed the bars of her cell to try to look at the jail she was in, he finally spoke.

"How did they get you?"

A little bit surprised by the abrupt question, Erina tried to remind what happened, but to her surprise she couldn't. When she tried to think, it was as if a grey haze had fixed itself on her brain, preventing her to focus. And the worst of all: it was the same with magic. She remembered the formulae's and the way to handle mana to cast a spell, but somehow, she couldn't. The old man then spat to the ground, and scratched his nearly bald head.

"Bah, it's always the same. You take a request to slay a monster, the vampire slavers catch you and then they throw you in a cell. And then you're a slave, and you mine for the rest of your days."

The old man chuckled in a dark tone.

"Well, your life won't be long here, at least…"

With nothing to do, she decided to at least get some information from the old man.

"Where are we exactly, mister?..."

"Dunno. The vampire who brought you there spoke of a plate, so I guess yer an adventurer. Just like me. They caught me two years ago, and to this day I mine, mine and mine. And don't give me that mister, I'm only an adventurer. Name's Helod. As to this place? I guess some vampire hideout. They capture people in the forest, and they make them mine. You're probably thinking of escaping…"

The old man smiled in a sinister way.

"No one has ever escaped alive from there. And the ones who try are turned into zombies. Mind you, being an undead might be better than suffering, but I think for now you'd rather keep your blood."

She spent some time to process the information, Helod waited patiently.

From what she understood, a clan of vampires was living in this forest, and captured anyone who came too close. She remembered the powerful feeling of wanting to go away as soon as they reached the tainted area, and understood that that they used some kind of hypnotic magic to turn away too strong people or to avoid unwanted attention.

Bandits, farmers, novice adventurers and small groups like Wolf fang, such were the vampire's targets. Secondly, the fact that no one ever escaped. She couldn't believe that no mage ever tried to blast the grate apart, or even just to go down by killing the most vampires in vengeance. And the fact that she felt something keeping her from using magic. She was probably drugged. That would explain why she felt relaxed, despite being in a life-or-death situation.

Coincidentally, it was at that moment that a guard came. He was a vampire too. He stopped before each cell, and she heard him putting something to the ground each time.

Once in front of her cell, he chuckled in an evil tone.

"Well, you're the last meatbag the lord caught, right? You're not that bad. I hoped I would have a taste of you…"

He licked his lips, showing his fangs.

"… But Malik told us that you're going to be a miner. Too bad, I think you would be a great source of blood…."

He put to the ground a big pot, and extracted what looked like soup to a bowl, which he put in front of the cell. He then dropped a gourd, apparently filled with a liquid from the sound when it fell.

"Eat well, meatbag. You're going to need that energy in the mine, Hehehe…"

He left the jail, and Erina heard the sound of a heavy door being locked. All around her, she could hear people frantically slurping on the soup, not caring about appearances. Even the old man was trying to drink as much as possible, spilling some of it on his beard.

When he finished, he looked at Erina's untouched bowl with a feverish gaze. She grabbed it, and waved it left and right. The old man's gaze followed the bowl.

"You… Want it?"

He looked up at her face, surprised.

"Really? You… You would give me your soup?"

When he spoke that, a clamor surged from all the other cells.

"NO! Give it to me!"

"I can get you out of here, me, me!"

"I swear on my name, if you don't give me that, I'll gut you, bitch!"

Even a feminine voice.

"Hey, we're both women, right? Give it to me, I can help you!"

Erina was honestly surprised that just the act of giving away food would arise such a fervor. Now, the old man had a pleading look in his eyes. She looked at the soup, intrigued. It seemed like a normal soup. A few vegetables, a hot broth… She even found strange that such an elaborate soup would be given to slaves. Just by the smell, she could feel that it was seasoned.

But at least, that confirmed her suspicion. The vampires captured people, then jailed them physically. Then, the prisoners were shackled mentally by drugging them with the soup. They would then not even think of escaping, by the fear of not getting the soup again.

That reminded her of her younger days, at the court. There was a time in Ridan history where the kingdom was on the verge of a breakdown. Poisoning had become common among the nobles, spies would try to infiltrate each noble home… From that time, the Ridan nobles had kept a strong tradition of trying each meal, each drink to confirm if there was poison or not. She had always found it funny how at the feasts, the nobles would categorically refuse to eat a plate before a taster would confirm that it wasn't poisoned.

If she wanted to escape, she would have to be able to use magic again. And for that, she needed to avoid eating or drinking whatever the vampires would give her.

She made the bowl slide on the floor to the old man's cell, which then made it slide back once he finished drinking. A lot of disappointed sighs were heard in the surrounding cells.

It was now a game of patience. A few hours after she woke up, a vampire came and announced that it was their turn to go to the mine. The guard opened each cell, and conducted the prisoner outside. Once it was Erina's turn, she tried to mimic the other slave's manners, trying to look drugged. A relaxed posture, despite the state they were in, and a bland look. She was thrown into a long file of people walking towards an unknown destination. She followed them, trying to find Armant or Wilhelm among all of them. But to no avail. Walking in their opposite direction, was another file of people. From the blisters on their hands, she deduced they were those that just finished their shift in the mine.

She was probably in a cave network, dug in to form a liveable place. The guards walked past the line of people, and occasionally she would hear the dry sound of a whip, and a vague grunt of pain. In front of her, the torn back of the living showed the vampire's sadistic tendencies.

They walked in the caves for some time, and to Erina's surprised they reached an exit. They were outside, once again in the dark forest. The vampires urged to prisoners to walk faster as they seemed to prefer closed places.

If she could control her mana, that would be the best time to escape. But it seemed the vampires knew that too. In addition to the guards who made sure that the prisoners went where they wanted, some guards with bows and menacing wolves with red eyes looked at the slaves, growling.

They walked along a path for a few minutes, before reaching another cave that led deep underground. Inside, Erina finally saw what the vampires wanted to be mined.

Near the entrance, there was a heavily fortified door. But she could see other slaves, bringing boxes filled with a bright silver metal. She wasn't really knowledgeable about metals, so the closest guess she could make was either silver or mithril.

And she began experiencing hell. A pickaxe was shoved in her arms, and she was told where to dig. Hellish would be an understatement to describe the pain she felt.

The muscles in her arms burned from the continuous effort.

Her back was mercilessly slashed by the vampire's whips when she tried to rest just a moment, leaving painful wounds.

Her throat ached from the dust she breathed. What was even worse was that she couldn't drink at the occasional gourd of water that was passed between the miners, because she knew it would be drugged.

Minutes felt like hours. Hours felt like days. The blisters on her hand started bleeding after some time. Adding the fact that she would occasionally cut herself on the sharp minerals when she tried to pick them up.

When the shift turn was finally announced, relief came crashing down on her like a waterfall. Just that first day felt like an eternity. Her hands bleeding, her blond hair grey from the dust, her back painful from the uncomfortable position, she regained her cell, deprived of any will.

The vampire with the soup came, and she barely registered making it slide to the old man's side. It was probably for the better. If she had been in her normal state, she wouldn't have been able to resist the alluring smell of food.

Even in her advanced state of exhaustion, the sharp pain in her back prevented her from falling asleep. Finally, she fell unconscious.

* * *

She woke up some time later. All the prisoners were sleeping. The deep gashes on her back were still painful, but at least they didn't bleed anymore.

The second thing she noticed, was that her mind was clear. No more fog, preventing her from focusing. She was probably hungry, but at that point she didn't even feel it anymore. However, she felt very strongly her parched throat, begging for something to drink.

Praying to all the gods she knew, she focused, and whispered:

 **[Create water]**

It was only a tier one spell. It was one of the easiest spells to cast. It was the first spell she learned from the Royal magic school of Riyal. Hell, in her normal state, she would have been able to cast it without even thinking about it.

Yet, the small stream of water that gushed out of her open palm felt like salvation. That water felt more holy than water blessed by the holiest priest. Tastier than the best wines. Clearer than the purest mountain stream.

She drank eagerly, spilling half of it in the process, but she didn't care, for it cleaned her the dirt and dust, but mostly because she felt like in control once again.

Erina had always been a mage. By the age of seven, she could cast her first spell. From her earliest memories, she had always been able to use magic. And that enslavement was the first time she had been deprived of it. For the first time in all of her life, the reassuring power of magic had been taken from her, and it was the scariest situation she had ever been into.

And it ended. Now, she was in control once again. Crying quietly out of relief, she let all of yesterday's frustration out. Granted, it was probably not a whole day. At best, she spent half a day into these mines. Commoners would have probably been able to support this work better.

But Erina was a princess. Never in her life did she have to work hard physically. The most tiring thing she had ever done was when her close-combat instructor taught her how to defend herself with a staff.

Never in her life did she get so humiliated.

She liked to think of herself as a humble and calm person. But that façade crumbled, and her anger kicked in. Right now, the happiness she felt when regaining her powers was replaced by the raging flames of vengeance.

However, she remained somewhat calm. She still had to save Armant and Wilhelm.

The last day, she had been tortured, but she didn't forget to observe her surroundings. Her escape route would be obviously when the prisoners were outside, walking towards the mine. While the vampires bullied the prisoners, she observed them. They were violent, but not many. They controlled the prisoners with their better equipment and better skills in combat. In short, they used quality over quantity.

And since Erina was a skilled magic caster, their combat knowledge meant nothing if they couldn't get close. That meant that she would have to worry only about the archers and magic casters as long as she took out the warriors before they came too close.

She had multiple plans to escape and save the two men, but they all had their own drawbacks.

After waiting some time, the vampire who guided them appeared and opened the cells. Erina obediently followed the line of prisoners once again. On her way, she learnt something very interesting. Two vampires were discussing, and one of them mentioned another cave that was used to "store meatbags". Of course, he meant the prisoners.

That was probably the cave where Armant and Wilhelm were held. When she finally left the cave, she could already feel it. The fresh air of freedom.

Watching the vampire guards, she whispered, using the dry sound of a whip slashing a poor soul's back to cover her voice.

" **[Stone spear]"**

A long, pointy stone erected itself from the ground, and went right through the unprepared vampire, piercing its lungs, and maybe its heart.

The vampire stayed silent for a moment, dropped his bow, looked at the rock impaling him, before losing all control on his body and impaling itself further with his own weight.

He died silently. But the red-eyed wolf at his feet did not. The canine looked at its dead master, and started weeping.

"Hoy, what happened to Gillyu?"

"How can I know, is he dead?"

"Adventurers?"

"Wait no, I smell no one except the meatbags and the wolves."

The vampires were confused, and it was understandable. After all, a prisoner using magic was unthinkable, and they couldn't smell any other living being.

Erina looked at the scene, slightly smiling. Earth magic had an advantage over the three other elements, that she could cast it from the ground itself, not directly from herself. That way, as long as no one heard her casting, they would have no way of understanding who cast the magic. Another **[Stone spear]** was cast, and this time it was a wolf that got impaled.

"Shit, we're under attack! You there, bring the prisoners back to their cells!"

A guard started urging the prisoners back to the cave, while the vampires armed their bows and unsheathed their weapons. Erina repeatedly used earth magic, to make it look like they were really attacked.

After a while, she used the confusion to escape. The prisoners were no more in a line formation, but in a big group. Strangely, none of them except Erina tried to escape. Probably the effect of the drug, thought the mage. As they passed near a tree, Erina hid behind it, and the guard didn't notice it.

The group of prisoners passed, and Erina looked at the scene, amused. All the vampires were focused on the left part of the path, and she was hidden behind a tree on the right part. She whispered once more.

" **[Pace of the wind]"**

She felt a cool breeze enveloping her feet. Under the influence of the spell, she ran far enough to not hear the vampires "fighting a mysterious enemy" anymore.

She knew the blood-suckers had some sort of system to monitor the forest, that's how "Wolf fang" had been found at first after all. That's why she needed a diversion to divert the system's attention while she prepared to save Wilhelm and Armant.

Using **[Fly],** she pierced through the canopy of the forest, and looked for the village they had stopped in before entering the forest. The reason being to find the place where they got captured. Wilhelm was the one who had the Bag of Holding on his back. And after being hit by the ogre, she hoped that the bag had flew off, and the vampires didn't pick it.

After finding the village, she went back into the dark forest, and placed the "diversion". A little spell, not so damaging. But which could be devastating in a forest.

Satisfied, she used **[Fly]** once again, to go into the direction of the village. Meanwhile, her "diversion" avidly burned the tree she had put on fire. On her way, she started some other fires.

After a while, she finally found the place. It wasn't that hard, there was tree with a big hole, probably caved in when Wilhelm hit it.

Searching for a bit, she found what she was looking for. The Bag of Holding was lying on the ground, a little bit dirty.

She happily changed her clothes, welcoming the sensation of cloth replacing the rough sack she had on before.

Of course, those were normal clothes, not enchanted whatsoever. And she didn't have her staff. But at least, she regained some bits of her dignity, and a healing potion helped her with the wounds on her back and leg.

When she looked into the forest, it wasn't that dark anymore. Now, a raging fire burned the wood, and the heat quickly dried up the moist air that was before. She was satisfied. She wasn't powerless anymore. Humming a merry song, she took out a pouch from the bag, and hanged it at her belt. She placed some mana potions inside, and walked a distance away from the fire.

Now, she just needed to wait for the fire to go out of control.

And as the wood was mercilessly devoured by the flames, she sat and waited, humming her happy song and munching on a piece of dried meat to calm down her stomach.

* * *

 **Hello there, author here,  
**

 **I hope... Bla bla bla, I'm tired of writing the same thing every time. Just know that I'm very grateful towards all of you.**

 **I'll answer all questions by PM.**

 **Until next time, have a nice day/night!**


	13. Chapter 12: Symphony of the night

**Still in research of the last item of the set of the Reckless one for Erina, Wolf Fang has set its sight on a vampire clan. But it seems that it was too big of a bone to chew for the three adventurers, and they got captured by the bloodsuckers. Tortured, treated like slaves, and sent to the mine, it proved to be too much for Erina who successfully escaped. But now, she's alone, and has to save Armant and Wilhelm from a dark fate...  
**

* * *

 _Dance around the fire_

 _Dance until you tire_

Walking in the burning forest, Erina sang a merry song she remembered from her childhood. The maid that used to take care of her sang it when it was time so sleep.

 _Go see the old lady_

 _Maybe she'll share a story_

Now that she thought about it, the song was about a feast to celebrate Mirna, the goddess of fertility. A song to rejoice people after the harsh winter. Yet, Erina never participated in such a party. The only celebrations she ever participated in were very official, with the nobles in the palace.

 _The blacksmith's daughter got a puppy_

 _And now she's all merry_

Despite being in a burning forest, she was safe. A wind spell kept the smoke from suffocating her, and a water spell protected her from the heat. A burning ogre ran in front of her, flailing his arms around, trying to put out the fire that already turned his flesh into crisps, but it was too late. The beast was too large to avoid the flames, and him running around just worsened the situation. Watching with satisfaction the results of her actions, she kept on walking towards the vampire's mine as the ogre fell and roared out of pain until he died.

 _The fire has been keeping us warm_

 _Keeping away the season of the storm_

Erina never was a religious zealot. There were mysterious things out there that she couldn't explain, even with magic, so she believed in a god. But she did not favor any god. Maybe the true one was Ethanos, the god of the alcoholomancers. Maybe it was T'kara, the god of knowledge. Maybe it was Mirna, the goddess of fertility. Maybe it was all the gods that were real. But she couldn't know. She had no proof. Therefore, she believed in a god, but not one in particular. But even if Mirna wasn't real, she liked this feast, because it was the occasion for everyone to gather, eat, drink and laugh.

 _We sing to Mirna who brought us spring_

 _We sing for winter has been defeated_

 _We no longer need the fire crackling_

 _Now is the time for her to be treated_

At that moment, the villagers would put out the big fire in the center of the feast and cheer with buckets of water. Under the cover of the night, young folk would propose to marry their beloved. And all of the remaining people would hold hands and turn around them, still dancing and singing. A marriage proposal accepted during this feast was traditionally a symbol for a couple with an unbreakable bond. At least that was what was told her.

 _Dance around the fire_

 _Dance until you tire…_

The song would go on and on, always repeating the same lyrics. There was even a traditional competition, where the person who would dance and sing the longest would get drowned in presents from the crowd. The reward always inspired a powerful competitive spirit, and no potion, magic or enchanted gear was allowed. If she remembered correctly, the champion to this day kept singing for five hours before his voice broke and his legs gave up.

The pleasant memory faded away, to be replaced by the reality of her situation. Erina was a powerful mage, but even she couldn't go alone against a whole clan of vampires, that would have been suicide. Her plan for now was to use the confusion created by the fire to sneak into the caves, save Armant and Wilhelm, and take back their equipment if possible. As she neared the location of the caves, she crouched, trying to listen.

Apart from the roaring of the fire, she could hear faint shouts. It was a good thing. That meant the vampires were currently occupied by something else than looking for her. She walked in the direction of the voices, trying to be as stealthy as possible.

Looking from behind a rock, she saw them, throwing buckets of water to the burning trees. Given the hopelessness of their act, it was clear they were getting desperate. The only one doing something useful was holding his hand out and using magic to produce a great amount of water.

He looked to be effective, because she could already see five or so wet trees, with water still dripping to the ground. Erina needed as much time as possible, so she needed the vampire mage out of the picture.

Focusing, she gathered the mana in the air and cast **[Air hammer]**. The mana manipulated the air around to hit heavily a burning tree, making its branches shake.

The tree started to lean, and the roots creaked under the weight. But the sound of the forest fire was too loud, and the vampire mage didn't react. She repeated the spell, and he only got the time to turn his head and say "what the- "before the tree fell and crushed him.

"Damn!"

"Let's go back to the caves! We can't put out this fire! We have no other choice!"

Nodding to each other, the remaining vampires ran back to the only safe place they knew: the caves.

She followed them until they reached the mine, and studied the entrance. It wasn't guarded, and rail tracks extended for a few meters outside, probably for the minecarts. Seeing this, she got an idea.

Certain metals can conduct electricity. That was a fact that was well known by any educated mage. And iron was one of those metals. The reasons were still being researched by scholars, but that was a thing that Erina didn't care about right now. She walked to the rail tracks, and put her hand on the slightly heated metal.

 **[Overcharge: Chain lightning]!**

Overcharge was an incantation that doubled the initial mana consumption of a spell, but allowed the wearer to pour even more mana in it and adjust the power output of a spell. That was the first time she used so much mana for a single spell, and the results were… _shocking_.

Attracted by the metal, the electric discharge coursed along the tracks, until it reached the vampires resting a few tens of meters deep inside the cave. Obeying to the will of the caster, the spell jumped to the nearest vampire, to another one, and another one and so on until it dissipated.

Normally, a basic chain lightning spell would jump up to three or four living beings before dissipating, and do some decent damage. But Erina was a skilled electromancer, and she even powered up the spell. The damage was devastating for the vampires. The spell wounded thirteen vampires before dissipating, and paralyzed them.

For the unprepared opponents, that was a big surprise. More than half of the group got paralyzed, and they had no idea how did that happen. What looked like a crazed mage then came running through the entrance of the cave, and immediately bashed one of the six remaining in the head with a heavy rock, knocking him out.

The five left tried to defend themselves, but they were caught by surprise. The first one barely unsheathed his sword, before a **[firebolt]** reached his face, and melted the skin and muscles underneath.

The second one was already trying to run towards her, but the bodies of his paralyzed allies slowed him down and a fireball exploded right on his chest, blowing him up to pieces. The blast wave of the explosion threw the third and fourth vampire to the ground.

The fifth was already quite close when Erina cast **[Flaming stream]** and transformed him into a living torch. He lost his grip on the sword, and it missed her arm by a hair's breadth as if fell. She then redirected the stream of fire to the vampires that were getting up, neutralizing them too.

Then, she grabbed a sword on the ground, and killed the paralyzed vampires one by one. They could not mutter any sound. Their muscles simply refused to move, and they could do nothing more than watch in horror as the woman killed their fellow vampires methodically.

As she took out the sword out of the last paralyzed vampire, Erina sighed, and wiped the sweat coming on her forehead. She took a big gamble. The initial spell had cost her a good portion of her mana, and she won against the six remaining vampires only thanks to the element of surprise.

Of course, she could just have stormed through them with more powerful magic, but she only had two mana potions left. If her mana was to run out before saving Wilhelm and Armant, she would be virtually defenseless.

She walked deeper into the cave, gripping the sword she had looted with a sweaty hand. She wasn't a warrior, and never trained with a sword. She only knew how to fight properly with a staff, and the sword would be probably useless against a trained opponent. Still, having a weapon, any kind of weapon, greatly reassured her.

But it seemed that Lady luck was on her side. Supposedly the vampires didn't think someone would attack them now, because the security was very relaxed. She met only one guard that was holding a crate, blocking his vision.

She simply made him trip, and then plunged the sword right in the back of his neck as he tried to get up.

Walking deeper, she finally reached the holding area. Just like she expected, all the slaves were apathetic, and quietly waited in their cells. Some raised their heads to look at her, but that was all.

She frantically looked inside each cell, until she found one of the men she was looking for. Armant was lying in his cell, surrounded by a scarlet pool.

Panicked, Erina immediately grabbed the metal gate and tried to open it, but as expected, it didn't move. Without even thinking about the consequences, she cast **[Scorching heat]** on the metal, making it melt in a matter of seconds.

When a hole big enough for her to go through was made, she rushed inside the cell, praying to all the gods for Armant's well-being. She knelt beside him, and tried to wake him up. He didn't move. She spoke to him, begging him to wake up. He didn't answer. Tears started forming in her eyes. She grabbed him by the shoulders, shaking him, trying to provoke any reaction.

To no avail.

The corpse stayed desperately flacid.

Every part of her being was focused on trying to find a proof of life. And if she wasn't focused as she was right now, she would have missed it. When she put her hear to his chest, she felt it raising. Minimally and irregularly, but it moved.

His eyes close. His muscles inactive, but he was still breathing. Quickly, she pulled out a health potion and poured it onto him. It was less effective than drinking it, but in his condition he could choke on it, which would ironically kill him.

He coughed, and slowly opened his eyes. Warm tears fell out of her eyes, and she hugged him tightly.

He didn't understand really what was happening, but he enjoyed the embrace and just let her. His arms were so weak he struggled to raise his hand and pat the back of her head.

They stayed like that for a moment. And thanks to the potion's effect, Armant finally found the strength to move into a sitting position, leaning against a wall.

"We don't have time to stay here. I still haven't found Wilhelm and-"

Armant locked onto her eyes, and the intensity within them surprised her. He tried to talk, but no recognizable words came out. After a few tries of speaking gibberish, he successfully conveyed what he meant to say.

"Wa…Water. Haven't drank any…thing. Drug. Last time I…Drank, was bef…ore we came to the village…"

Just like she did a few hours ago, she cast **[Create water]**. Armant drank avidly from the small stream coming out of her open palm, and finally felt alive after what seemed to be an eternity. His strength was coming back, but he couldn't replace the blood he had lost, and still felt weak. If he had to fight, he wouldn't last long, so they could do nothing but wait a few days for the blood to regenerate.

But right now, they couldn't afford to wait. Wilhelm was still in danger. Erina handed the young man the sword she had looted. Armant needed a way to defend himself, and it would be much more useful to him than in her untrained hands.

"Do you know where did they take Wilhelm? I haven't found him yet, neither out equipment…"

He took a moment to reorganize his fragmented memories from the previous day, but nothing in particular came to his mind.

"No… I do know they have another prison, I guess that's where you were jailed, but if he wasn't there then I have no idea. We should search for him in the living are of the vampires."

Nodding at her brother's suggestion, Erina left the cell by the hole she had cut, while Armant followed her with a painful grunt. On her way out, she grabbed one of the metal bars that fell to the ground. It was shorter and heavier than her usual staff, but it would certainly be better than a sword she had never trained with.

That being done, looking for Wilhelm was easier said than done. Neither of them knew the layout of the area. They searched the cave they were in for some time, but they didn't find anything interesting. More holding areas, a small kitchen that was probably used to cook food for the prisoners, a storage full of food… Both were getting anxious as time passed, when finally, a possible clue showed up.

"That can't be right! We have to leave right now! Did you see that at the entrance? 19! 19 of us, killed even before they got the chance to call for help! There's an adventurer team prowling the place, and he only sends us in groups of two!"

As they were leaving the storage area, they heard a voice echoing in the silent hallways. Erina smiled when she realized who they feared.

"Well, it's not like we can do anything, right? Besides, Malik is a tyrant, but he's strong. He would have killed you on the spot if you disobeyed the order. And the only thing we have to do is to find the intruders, not fight them, so calm down."

A second vampire talked, and the first grunted in an uneasy tone. Both brother and sister rushed back quietly inside the storage area, and hid behind some crates filled with vegetables.

If an adventurer group dwelt in a monster's lair, one should be careful. Adventurers were people specialized in killing monsters after all, and they had a plethora of skills and weapons to solve any situation. The fact that the vampires calmly patrolled the place despite the heavy losses showed the pride that was common among the powerful. This pride was also one of the adventurer's weapons, underestimated by the enemies of mankind.

Of course, with the help of Erina's magic, they could have taken them out easily. But if they killed the patrol, even if done quietly, the others would notice their disappearance. Erina quietly cast **[Air bubble]**. Normally, this spell would be used by mages who wanted to go underwater, or to protect themselves from harmful gases. But in that situation, the spell would prevent their body odor from being smelled by the red-eyed wolf patrolling with the guards.

They listened to the steps echoing, gradually coming closer. And the steps stopped. Erina's heart missed a beat, and Armant clenched tightly the sword.

Nothing except the wolf loudly sniffing the door could be heard. Then, it scratched the door with his paws.

"That's the food storage, he's probably attracted by the meat."

The first vampire whistled.

"Come on Marcus, I'll give you a treat when we're back at dormitory, but now's not the time to eat. Who's a good boy? Who's a good boy? Yes, You're the good boy!"

Even if she couldn't see the scene, Erina imagined it. And it was… Surreal, to say the least. A dangerous monster such as a vampire, petting a wolf on the head and talking to it like a woman would speak to a baby. The wold moving its tail left and right, happy to receive its master's attention. And the second vampire, probably used already to this behaviour, rolling his eyes.

A few moments after, one of the guards spoke.

"Say, what do you think we'll find when we open that door? Malik made the meatbags dig, but he never said why, right?"

"Well, the blood mage can't read what is written on the door, so I suppose it could be a ruin from before the eight greed kings. Doesn't seem to be from the empire, or any younger nation too."

Apparently, the vampires dug the mine not for the ores, but for a ruin that they somehow discovered. It wasn't important for Erina's and Armant's situation, but she kept that information in a corner of her mind, just in case.

"Heh, remembering the meatbags working made me thirsty. We should go to the feeding ground after the patrol. It's sad that Malik kept that knight for himself, because I have to admit he looked tasty…"

"I like women more. Aaah, the sweet blood of a priestess, and her cries… It was even better knowing that she was conscious about what was happening. Too bad her so-called "god" never came in her help."

The second vampire chuckled, and they resumed the patrol. Still wary of potential guards, Armant whispered.

"It's bad. They're using Wilhelm as a blood source, and he's in the hands of their leader. For now, I think we should just follow them."

Erina agreed. They did not know where was the "feeding ground", and looking for it would take too much time. Under the guise of **[Air bubble], [Invisibility]** and **[Silence],** they followed the patrol.

Maintaining three spells for an extended period of time should have been hard, even for a seasoned mage, but Erina always had a faster mana regeneration than the other mages. Some said that it was a "talent", some said it was because she was of royal blood, but she didn't study this phenomena in depth yet. It would be an important field of study she would set up once she becomes the director of Riyal's royal magic academy. All that was important now was that it allowed her to maintain the spells without a heavy mana loss.

Despite the spells hiding them, they had to be careful. They couldn't be smelled. They couldn't be seen or heard, but all it took was a vampire trained enough as a thief or an assassin to spot them. And there was still this "blood mage" that could potentially see through her spells.

The guards they have been following finally reached what looked like to be their destination. After exiting the mine, they arrived at a larger cave. But calling it a cave would be wrong.

All the walls were expertly carved with beautiful engravings, four pillars placed evenly supported the structure, and were sculpted to look like warriors. All made from white marble, with embedded gems placed tastefully. The place inspired an overall feeling of sacredness. In that holy-looking place, the vampires looked utterly out of place.

Erina and Armant were stunned by the sight in front of them, and nearly bumped into some vampires walking into the mines they came from.

Avoiding just in time, they got reminded of the urgency of the situation, and looked more seriously into the room.

They were four exits. One led into the mines they came from. One led to a tunnel leading somewhere else, to the left. One wasn't a tunnel, but an opening closed with a curtain, big enough to let a single human go through, guarded by a vampire holding a halberd, to the right. And the last one, in front of them, was an enormous gate, half as big as E-rantel's gate, made from white stone. At its feet, humanoid forms raised pickaxes and tried to dig through, but given that the gate wasn't even scratched after all this time they probably would never break through by force. Behind the slaves, a vampire dressed in a scarlet robe held a book in one hand, a quill in the other, and looked intensively at the engravings on the door, trying to translate them. Near the ceiling, Erina recognized the spheres of light, **[Continuous light]**.

Erina pointed her finger at him, and tapped Armant on the shoulder. They both thought the same thing.

' _The blood mage.'_

Around the room, multiple vampires talked, walked and did whatever they had to do. In top left corner, humans were tied to wooden logs. Like ticks, some vampires held on to them and sucked their blood, enjoying their cries of despair. The disgusting scene made her grimace, so she focused on the rest of the room.

On her left, another corner was dedicated to furniture, tables covered in paper and books, and even a small alchemy station. And in the middle of the room, an altar with red streams of blood flowing out of a freshly executed human body.

While there were numerous vampires walking around, talking to each other, carrying boxes or simply patrolling, both of them could walk through without touching anybody if they walked carefully.

With simple hand movements, Erina told Armant to stay close to her, and they walked towards the doorway closed with a curtain. For Erina who was used to the effects of magic, it was a normal, assured walk, but not for Armant.

Off all the people he knew, his sister was the person he trusted the most. But even so… Even with that trust, it was hard. All those bloodthirsty creatures walking around… Some looked right through them, but he couldn't help but feel like these glares saw through the magic, and stabbed him. It was probably his own mind playing tricks, but he felt like the light gleamed on the sharp canines of the monsters.

After what felt like an eternity, they arrived in front of the curtain. The guard holding the halberd looked bored out of its wits, and yawned lazily. Of course, they couldn't just open the curtain and enter. And they couldn't just wait here for an occasion to enter. At any moment, the blood mage could sense that something was strong, or just being spotted by a simple stroke of bad luck.

Using a simple tactic known by any kid, Erina cast a droplet of ice-cold water at the end of a finger, and let it fall on the vampire's nape. Even with its sense dulled by its undead state, the cold sensation surprised him, and he looked at the ceiling, trying to determine where that came from. The human duo quietly entered as he looked up.

In contrast with the previous room bustling with activity, they were now in a long empty corridor, made from the same white engraved stone.

There were two exits. A door on the left wall, and one at the end of the corridor. The door to the left looked more like a jail gate, made from wood and reinforced with metal parts. On the upper part, a small hatch could be opened to look inside.

They walked up to it, and as Erina watched for potential opponents, Armant opened the hatch. There wasn't any light inside, and thus he couldn't see well, but a vaguely humanoid form could be made out in the shadows.

"Wilhelm? Is that you?"

Under the pressure, Armant had forgotten they were still under the **[Silence]** spell. Erina stopped fueling the spell, and signaled Armant to repeat the question.

The form slowly raised itself, and advanced forward. Recognizing the face as he came closer, Armant smiled. But suddenly, his smile got replaced by a shocked expression.

"No. It is not Wilhelm. Not anymore. Not even a human. I'm… _a monster._ "

Alarmed by what she heard, Erina pushed Armant aside and looked as well. His face shed light on, she saw them… Those characteristics. A pale skin. Red eyes. And long canines protruding out of the mouth, made to pierce.

Wilhelm had been turned into a vampire.

Erina stood there for a moment, thinking about how to react.

"When I became a royal knight, I made an oath. I would always protect the Electra household, even at my own life's price. But now… How? How can I protect those I vowed to protect, when… When I have to fight this urge to sink my teeth into your skin and drink your blood? Tell me, Erina."

She smiled. Her expression was not of a fellow adventurer, Erina of Wolf Fang. Not either the expression of the royalty, Erina Electra, daughter of the king Merick Electra. No. Her face was now one of a dear friend, nicknamed Eri. She passed an arm through the hatch, and gently put a hand on his cheek.

"Wilhelm. You're one of my dearest friends. I would never abandon you, nor consider you as a monster. How could I, when you're the only person that supported my decision of staying away from politics. You spent countless hours with me, not by someone else's order, but by your own will. You're the only person that saved me from assassins. I was powerless back then. Paralyzed. All the guards had fled. You were the only one that stayed to face them, and fought to death. You saved my life. Now, it is my turn to save yours. Will you come with us?"

He put a hand on hers. The heat he felt contrasted much to his now cold skin, and angered him. He was angry at the vampires, because they turned him into what he is. He was angry because the ones he was supposed to protect had been the ones who saved him, two times now. But more than anything else, he was angry at himself.

How could he have thought for a moment, that his best friend would abandon him? How could he have believed that vampire, Malik, who fed him lies upon lies to break his morale. How could have he thought so lightly of his oath? All the despair in his heart was replaced by a mix of cold anger and warm feeling at the thought of his comrades, Erina and Armant.

"Yes… I am a knight of Rida. I am a royal guard, and I will not let a mere vampiric condition turn me away from my oath. Erina Electra, will you permit me to swear a new oath?"

Erina didn't answer, but instead took out a small spherical object from the bag of holding. It was an item she had taken from the armory in Rida, just in case. It could be used to open magical locks, and needed a whole day to be used again. At the mere contact with the door, the sound of the opening lock was heard. Well oiled, it opened without a sound. Inside, Wilhelm had retreated a few steps, and was kneeling.

Erina, head held high, approached him.

"I pledge my service and my loyalty, body and soul, to my Lady. When the clarion call is sounded, I will ride out and fight in your name. Whilst I draw breath, the lands bequeathed unto you will remain untainted by evil, and I shall throw my life if needed. This oath do I give of my own free and independent will. This I swear on my blood and my breath."

While Wilhelm spoke, Armant who was watching from behind gasped. This was not a normal knight oath. This was the Warden's oath, that declared the utmost loyalty to a person. The person vowing would discard his titles, his riches and his fame to receive the title of "Warden".

A warden works in synergy with his master. What the master do will affect the warden's honor, and similarly what the warden's actions will affect his master's reputation. A Warden will only accept orders from his master. A warden will even have to defy a king, if one threatened his master.

Having a warden was a very old Ridan tradition, that was sought by all the nobles. That was because both noble and warden were loyal to each other. If a noble accepted a warden's oath from someone he didn't know well, the warden could use his master's name as he wished, and it would be for the whole life. And a warden betraying his master was not something unheard of in Ridan history.

But when one accepted a Warden's oath, one showed the whole world that they were inspiring enough for a person to dedicate its whole life in the master's service. It was a very strong proof that one could be respected. Out of the ten most powerful nobles in Rida, only three had a warden at their service. Not even the current king, Merick Electra, had one.

"Wilhelm Capirossi, royal knight of the Riyal palace, I revoke your current occupation. You shall be now known as Erina Electra's Warden. When the time will be to defend me, become my shield. When the time will be to fight for me, become my sword. In return, you shall bear my name as you see fit, and your family shall be safe for as long as I live. Now get up, and show me your loyalty."

Wilhelm raised from his kneeling position, and simply hugged her. While seemingly unimportant, this action spoke more than a thousand words. Erina's neck was defenceless, and he could sink in his teeth at any moment. He could use his eyes to charm her, but he didn't. His newfound vampiric instincts screamed to harm her, but he suppressed them forcefully.

Armant watched from behind with a smile. He didn't share the deep bond Erina had with Wilhelm, he was more of an uncle for him. Yet, it was very heart-warming, and glorious. Right now, the former knight brimmed with loyalty and nobility. He was the very representation of honorable knights that were written in children's books.

"Now, let's go, we still need to find our equipment, and leave. The next item of the set we take only if there's a chance, but if not, we leave. We need to sort out our things."

Both accepted what she said. Back in the corridor, they were again in front of the curtain. Erina was thinking of a way to go through again unnoticed, when the exact sound she didn't want to hear was heard.

"Thinking of escaping, are we? I knew you would come back for your comrade. TO ME!"

It was a rasp voice, that oozed malice and darkness. The supposed Malik, chief of the vampire clan here, had predicted the escape attempt, and had discovered them. His shout attracted the attention of the monsters outside, and a great commotion was heard. Without even turning in the clan chief's direction, Erina reacted swiftly.

"Run! **[Air hammer]!** "

The strength of Erina's spell sent the guard that was about to enter flying, along with the curtain. As there was no point in stealth now, she stopped fueling **[Air bubble], [Silence]** and **[Invisibility].**

Outside, the situation looked grim. All the vampires had been prepared for a sudden attack, and a wall of spears and swords greeted Wolf Fang. She was surprised at their numbers. About twenty were surrounding them right now, and more of them came by the tunnels.

Wilhelm grabbed the halberd the guard was previously holding. Even without his armor and usual weapons, he had trained with all sorts of weapons and he still had his martial arts. And he wanted vengeance.

"Out. Of. MY. WAY! **[EARTHQUAKE]!** "

The martial art should have made them all fall. But because of the sturdy material the room was built with, they only staggered.

But that was enough for the warden to sweep all the vampires in front of him with another martial art: **[Magma slash]**. A thin line of fire on the blade, the hit cut in half two enemies, and made the others fall back a few steps.

But Wilhelm was basically alone. Erina could support him from behind, but she had to keep in check the blood mage who launched spells, and Malik, the vampire leader from behind. Armant just came back from near-death, and he couldn't fight efficiently. With no equipment, Wilhelm couldn't hope to fight back all the vampires alone.

They didn't know the tunnel's layout, and the chances of finding an exit by chance were extremely low, given the maze-like structure.

However, a sliver of hope remained to Erina.

"Wilhelm, Armant, we go to that big gate!"

"Alright!"

"Yes!"

With the help of steel and magic, they made their way to the white gate. Erina's metal bar was starting to get dangerously hot because of the many uses of electric magic, Wilhelm's body was covered in cuts. However, because of his vampiric nature, they healed overtime. Armant was doing what he could, but he was mainly a sharpshooter, not a swordsman, and his fatigue made him take some serious hit already.

"You fools! I will be the one to open that gate!"

The blood mage mocked them when he realized their goal, while Malik joined him and chuckled in an evil tone at their futile efforts.

When they arrived, Erina dropped the bag of holding.

"There's potions inside! Give me some time!"

Without waiting for their answer, she cast **[Mana shield]** on herself and focused on the engravings of the gate. Occasionally, a spell would crash on the magical protection, but she trusted the spell.

The writings were a little worn by the time, but they were familiar. They looked a lot like the ancient Ridan alphabet that was used centuries ago. As a mage, being able to decipher the writings of old magical artifacts to understand their use was a given, so she started translating it immediately.

' _Let's see, the characters are similar to the third era's alphabet. The grammar has changed a little bit too, but I should be able to understand what's written… Alright, this word probably means tomb. So, this is a tomb, but for who? Probably a noble, maybe even a king seeing how luxurious it is. A…As…Axa…rion? Axarion the third? Don't know him…'_

Erina's brain worked as fast as it could, as the speed at which she could find the solution to open the door directly related to their survival. After roughly a minute, she finally arrived at the part of the door that interested her.

" _What always run but never walks,_

 _Often murmurs, never talks,_

 _Has a bed but never sleeps,_

 _Has a mouth but never eats?"_

She smiled at this simple riddle, which she immediately resolved. The answer was: a river.

Under the riddle, a list of words was carved, including the answer she found. She tried to infuse mana into the right word, but there was no reaction. She looked intensively at the carving, as if the sole strength of her gaze could open it, but nothing.

Then it came to her. She even wondered why did she not realize it before. This was a ruin from a sanctuary, from before 600 years ago. And at that time, tiered magic didn't exist yet, people only used wild magic. Some called it also soul magic.

She needed souls to use wild magic to operate the gate, but luckily for her countless slaves had already died because of the vampire's harsh treatment. If she focused enough, she could see a lot of souls wandering around, some very old and some more recent ones.

Once she started gathering their life force, it was as if the souls welcomed their end, after years or decades of imprisonment.

The characters forming "river" glowed with a yellow light, and the gate opened slowly. The sound of the stone rasping against the floor covered the noise of the battle. In the distance, both the blood mage and Malik looked in bewilderment at the gate. They had tried to open for years with no results, and a human woman that was only a young adult opened it in a matter of minutes.

Erina grabbed the bag of holding and threw it inside. Armant ran inside too, but Wilhelm retreated in an orderly manner, not leaving a single opening to his opponents.

"GET INSIDE, DON'T LET THEM CLOSE IT BACK!"

Angry at everything, Malik unsheathed his own blade and charged in the gate's direction, pushing away the vampires on his way. Meanwhile, all the other bloodsuckers stopped caring about their wounds, and charged with a war cry. Erina looked around and found a lever. Hoping that it would do what she wanted, she grabbed it and pulled it down.

Just like it opened, the gate rasped against the floor again. But for the humans who escaped death narrowly, it was way too slow. Each centimeter the gate moved, the vampires advanced a step. Seeing their impending doom, the mage reacted swiftly.

"Get behind me!"

If the vampires came close, she probably would be killed in an instant, but she had a plan. As soon as Wilhelm and Armant got behind her, she set it in motion.

"Come at me, bloodsuckers! **[Firewall]! [Violent gale]!** And **[Air hammer]!** "

What she just did was a spell combination that was frequently used in Ridan warfare. It was mainly used in defense when a unit was charged, to minimize the impact of the charge.

The first spell slowed the vampires down, as they faced one of the most effective element against them: fire. It was only a meter-high wall here, but some experienced pyromancers could cast much larger walls.

The second spell generated a violent gust of wind that made them loose their footing, but that was not all. When it hit the fire wall, the wind got heated to a boiling temperature and increased the damage dealt.

The third spell sent them flying back.

As the momentum of the charge disappeared, Erina looked at the gate which closed with a satisfactory _thump_. The last thing she heard was Malik's cry of rage.

"At last…"

Armant sighed as he said this, and leaned against a wall. The small amount of blood left in his body slowly seeped out through the numerous wounds, and he felt weaker and weaker as time passed. Erina passed him one of the last healing potions to help him with that.

Wilhelm's body was covered in wounds too, but they slowly healed. And besides, as he was part of the undead now, any healing magic would hurt him.

Erina dropped the metal bar she had used to defend herself. No vampires went past Wilhelm, but she took some damage from the blood mage's spells. She downed the last healing potion, and took some time to look around.

Just like the previous room, they were in a hallway made from what looked like white marble, all engraved with luxurious carvings and gems embedded tastefully, but everything was clean. Not a single spot of dust. Small orbs of yellowish light floated in the air, and when she extended her senses to them, she felt soul magic animating them.

Nothing was said, but all agreed that they needed a good rest. Well, Wilhelm was an undead, and thus didn't need to sleep, but he still had human habits and he felt like he needed to rest. Going exploring an unknown tomb while exhausted was basically asking to die, or worse.

Erina cast **[Alarm]** , and lied on the ground, using some clothes she took from the bag of holding as a pillow. As she was about to fall asleep, the spell tugged on a corner of her mind.

"Wilhelm, Armant, wake up!"

The warden who had merely closed his eyes immediately prepared the broken halberd, but Armant couldn't. He simply had passed out of exhaustion. This was the worst situation for them to fight.

Erina grabbed the metal bar she had dropped previously, not listening to her protesting muscles.

Two set of steps could be heard. They were loud, and the sound of every step evoked the size of the incoming thing.

The human duo waited, and finally, the forms came into the distance. Two of them were massive. As they approached, she recognized golems made of the same white stone the tomb was made off. The third was a translucent, light green form floating above ground. It was the ghost of a woman, in plain-looking clothes. Her face looked lively, despite her undead state.

The golems stopped, and the ghost floated a short distance in front of them.

"Hello, dear visitors. Please, drop your weapons and follow me. My master wishes to speak to you."

Her voice was surely cute when she was alive, but now it echoed, as if two people spoke at the same time in an ethereal tone.

Wilhelm looked at Erina, asking for confirmation. She nodded, and both dropped their weapon. Right now, a fight would be the worst outcome. If the person buried here was one of the undead that could put its hatred for the living aside, it would be possible to leave alive. Even better, if she played her cards correctly, she could ask the master to help them deal with the vampires.

"Wilhelm, pick Armant up, I'll take the bag."

The woman ghost waited patiently as Wilhelm picked gently Armant, and Erina fastened the bag of holding on her back.

They followed the ghost, looking at the wonders of this place, particularly its inhabitants. They were all either ghosts, either golems. The ghosts were all outfitted with clothes and armor from a very ancient time.

The ghost knights didn't wear plate armor. After all, even during the era of the great disaster, people didn't know yet how to craft full plate armor. They only wore a conical helmet with a nasal protector, and chain mail on the rest of the body. Their armament didn't vary much: a heater shield, and a sword or a spear.

The other type of ghost were the maids, who wore a simple dress, with an apron on top of it.

While they walked, Erina engaged the maid that was leading them.

"Excuse me, may I ask for some trivial information about your master, Axarion the third? I wouldn't want to offend him by mentioning a delicate subject…"

The ghost didn't turn to face her, but she answered.

"Of course. As you said, my master is Felro Hei Garo Nix, but he took the name Axarion the third. Before his death, he was the councilor of the sanctuary of Telesto at the grand council. He has a wife and a son, but they didn't wake up after their burial, thus he rules alone on this place, the magnificent tomb of Axarion the third."

The grand council had been formed after the unification of all the human countries had been decided into the sanctuaries. The former kings and emperors were the ruling caste of the sanctuaries. If this Axarion was a councilor, he held great power. In addition to his rank, the sanctuary of Telesto was one of the richest.

Erina had studied history before the great calamity, so she knew about the sanctuaries. The sanctuary of Telesto was on the western part of the continent, while Rida was situated on the eastern side.

To think that with just a single jump with a teleport gate, Wilhelm, Armant and Erina moved all the way to the opposite side of the continent, really made them realize how convenient a piece of technology that was.

She made a note to remember avoiding the subject of his family, just in case.

They walked for quite a long time, passing doors and hallways leading to unknown places. Countless golems and ghosts patrolling the place. Every surface was clean, without a single spot of dust. The ghost maids really did their job well.

Finally, they reached a similar gate to the one they entered first. The maid stopped, signalling that the trio would have to enter alone. The two golems pushed open the heavy doors, which opened silently, proving once more the attention given to the maintenance.

Inside was a throne room. Large statues of knights acted as support pillars, along the dark blue carpet leading to the throne. On the throne itself, the ghost of a man wearing a crown and luxurious clothes, and resting his head on his arm. Like the other ghosts, his legs disappeared into a greenish mist at his feet. Behind him, four ethereal knights eyed suspiciously the newcomers.

Despite the grand sight, there was only one word to describe the man on the throne: boring. His face was as common as it could, his hair too, his eyes seems empty of any intelligence, and his royal attire only made his lack of feature stand out.

"So? Who are you people? And what… *yawn* what are you doing in my domain?"

Even his way of talking seemed to have a narcoleptic effect. At first, Erina feared that it was the effect of a magic item, but it wasn't.

"Permit me to greet you, your excellence Axarion the third."

The man waved his hand limply, signalling her to continue.

"I am Erina Electra, and I am versed in the arcane of the elements. I am the daughter of Merick Electra, current king of the sanctuary of Rida. The man who can't greet your excellency is Armant Electra, heir to the throne of Rida. I do hope that you will forgive his impudence, for he was just rescued from enslavement. The man beside me is Wilhelm Capirossi, my personal warden and protector of the two of us."

"I welcome you, Erina Electra. If I remember correctly, Rida is that small sanctuary in the east right? How is it faring?"

Still in his uninspired tone, he didn't even seem interested by the answer.

"We are faring well, your majesty. Our armies are keeping away the invaders, and the people are content with their situation. As to why we are here, it is because we had to flee a threat, and had no other choice if we wanted to stay alive."

"Hmmm… A threat, you say? What kind of threat?"

That was the time Erina waited for. She already understood why Axarion was so uninspired. He was a king, and had nothing to do but rule on a bunch of servants in a limited place. If she made him look at the vampires as a distraction, maybe he would help them.

"A vampire threat, your majesty. We came here to find an object they took from us, but it turned out they were prepared. We got ambushed in the cave leading here, and had to flee."

His face remained the same, except a tiny glint of interest in his eye.

"I thought the vampyr clans had been defeated a few decades ago… You're saying that there's some still left?"

The vampyr clans were an alliance of multiple vampire clans that thrived before humans united into sanctuaries. They treated humanoids as blood sources and were sworn enemies. They had been defeated for centuries now, but the ghosts had probably lost the sense of time as it passed.

"Indeed, your majesty. But I believe it is a clan that survived the purge."

"Hmmm…"

He seemed to be lost in thought. They waited for some time, before Erina got irritated and spoke.

"Your majesty, I do hope you can forgive my impudence, but I would like to ask you a favour."

"Speak."

"We would like to profit from your generosity, and let us rest in this place for a few days. We are exhausted, and can barely stand on our legs."

He spent some more time watching them.

"Well, it's not like I have anything to do. Accorded. But I fear I cannot prepare a welcome fit for fellow royals. We're ghosts, after all. I would be glad to talk to you once you are rested, Erina Electra."

Relieved that the ghost didn't seem to have bad intentions toward the living, she smiled and thanked him.

"I thank you sincerely, Councillor Axarion."

The ghost simply nodded, before waving to a ghost maid. She immediately understood, and floated closer to the trio.

"If you would follow me."

They walked behind the maid once again, who led them to an empty room. On the ground, multiple carpets had been piled, and sacks filled with wool were used as pillows.

"I am terribly sorry, this isn't a resting place fit for master's guests, but we don't have beds or anything of sort here. I hope this will satisfy you at least a little bit."

Before the maid bowed, Erina quickly answered.

"It's alright, we don't need more."

For her, every somewhat soft surface would feel comfortable. As soon as the maid left, eerily floating away, the mage fell head first into a pile of carpets, and fell asleep immediately.

In the corner of the room, a being stood. A dark being, that could not be seen by most of the people, until it wanted to be seen. Its face twisted, probably with the intention to smile, and made a mental note.

 _'This will surely be interesting for Demiurge-sama...'_

* * *

 **Hello there,  
**

 **I would like to begin this with an apology: I'm really trying to shorten the time between each publication. This time, it took me a month and a week (better than last time, but still).**

 **Comments are much appreciated, reading them** **is very motivating.**

 **Also, Happy New Year everyone! Let's hope that a nuclear war doens't break out, and that next time you drop your toast, it won't fall on the buttered side!**

 **See you next time!**


	14. Chapter 13: Illuminating the darkness

**Captured by a clan of vampire, Wolf Fang got captured and enslaved. But that was too much for Erina, who escaped. Once somewhat rested, she set on a dangerous mission: save Wilhelm and Armant from the vampire's grasp. Armant was found, barely alive, but now safe. Wilhelm, on the other side... Tortured both mentally and physically by Malik, the vampire's clan chief, and turned into a vampire himself. Not even human anymore, he had thought of suicide for some time, but his dearest friend saved both his body and soul. Touched by her attention, the vocation of Warden naturally came to him.**

 **However, even the best cannot fight under equipped and overrun for long. Their stealth busted, they found their escape route by opening the stone gate closing a tomb with wild magic. Luckily for them, the spirit king resting seems to not be one that hate the living. For now.**

* * *

Sweet dreams are made of bliss. Nightmares are made of horrors. Yet for some, it is hard to tell apart real life and dreams. Such was Wilhelm's current situation.

He had experienced horrors at the end of a vampire, who tortured him both physically and mentally. He wasn't that far from his breaking point when Erina and Armant pulled him out of this precarious situation. He had finally found his true vocation: Being Erina's warden.

She had spoken the right words, and acted the right actions to awake that vocation. Maybe it was all a manipulation from her part to obtain a loyal dog, but he did not believe she would do this. Erina knew entirely what being a warden means, and he felt fulfilled. He felt bliss. He wasn't sure if this was reality. Finding that tomb, where an amiable spirit welcomed them just as they were about to get overrun seemed way too far-fetched.

Yet, the sleeping mage lying in front of him proved him that it was reality. Some people called her crazy, some even considered her dangerous. And in a way, they were right. She was so passionate about magic that some serious accidents happened already. One of them had such aggravating consequences that she had become the target of a group of assassins once. But he knew.

Her interest to magic was genuine, and she shared every positive discovery. She had already invented two new spells, and quite a few had been optimized. Reducing the mana cost, reducing the casting time or even improving the effect, she was a true genius when it came to spell-crafting.

As he was thinking about her past, she opened her eyes and yawned loudly.

"Wakey wakey, your majesty. It's only been one and half a day since you fell asleep."

She moved into a sitting position on the pile of carpets she had slept on, and rubbed her eyes.

"I shouldn't have slept this long…"

Even if she said that, she had never enjoyed so much a night (or rather a day and half in this case) of sleep. Armant's condition seemed to have improved too. Thanks to a healing potion's effect, he had been healed, and all needed was rest. Judging by the colors that came back on his skin, she confirmed his blood had started to regenerate.

After making sure that no vampire characteristics were appearing on the young prince, she turned towards Wilhelm. She wanted to speak, but she couldn't find the words. Such a theme for a conversation couldn't be engaged lightly. Seeing her struggling, the warden understood what she wanted to say.

"Don't worry, it's fine. I turned into a vampire, but there was nothing you could have done. He had already turned me into one when I woke up after we got captured. It was already too late."

She fingered around a hair bang, not sure of herself.

"Are you sure it's "fine", as you say? I'm certain that sorcerer king who has lived probably for centuries has a solution…"

He glanced at her with a surprised expression. She made a good point. The undead that became the sorcerer king, Ainz Ooal Gown, was a master of death. He could create dangerous monsters such as death knights and soul eaters by the sheer strength of his will. As a vampire is a form of undead, maybe he had a solution.

But could they trust an undead? The fact that he ruled E-rantel peacefully proved already that he wasn't like the others, that he was capable of containing his hate for the living.

"Hmmm… It's certainly tempting, but no. There are some people in Rida that can cast resurrection magic, but do you remember the prices? You could buy a manor in the capital for the price of a resurrection. If that is similar here, I can't imagine what his price would be… No, Erina. I'm better in this condition. And I can protect both of you better. I don't need to rest, I can see in the dark, and my wounds heal by themselves."

A bittersweet feeling could be made out in his voice.

"But what about your family?"

He stayed in the position he was before the question, as if paralyzed. Indeed, Wilhelm had a family. His wife had died a few years ago due to illness, but he had a son and a daughter, both taken care of by a great friend of his.

Could his children accept him as a vampire? Could they approach him without being scared? And even more, could he keep himself from hurting them? If he controlled his vampiric needs, it could work, but there was a big "if".

And apart from that, he lied when speaking to Erina. No, he wasn't better in this condition. Sure, there were advantages for fighting conditions, but he still wanted to be a human. Yes, humans are weak. They do not have tough hides, fangs, claws, and they don't live long. But that's what gives them strength. While a monster may rest in his lair and do nothing, humans will build sturdier walls, more powerful weapons, harder armors, until they can defeat the monster that thought his natural strength could overcome his enemies.

Wilhelm didn't want to lose his humanity. That drive to constantly improve. He felt a mix of emotions, anger, self-depreciation, sorrow and much more.

"I… I don't know. Deep inside, I want to believe they won't be scared, but… How? I'm a vampire, an enemy of humankind. I'm the monster that is defeated at the end of children books, and the princess is saved."

Erina was sad for him. She didn't have children, and she couldn't imagine how it would feel to be feared by its own descendants. The closest thing she could think of was her own family, the Electras. And that was already hard to imagine.

"Then, how about it? Once we are out from here, we will go to E-rantel and seek an audience with the sorcerer king. Depending on the price, we might accept."

He lowered his head. He knew perfectly that the price to turn him back into a human would be very expensive. He was warmed by her intentions, and ashamed by his own selfishness.

After a moment of uncomfortable silence, she heard a muffled " 'hank you". A little bit merrier, she stood up and read the engravings on the walls to pass the time. Wilhelm stayed in his sitting position, thinking about his family.

A few hours passed, and finally Armant regained consciousness. The spellcaster greeted him with a smile, and the warden looked from his sitting position at the scene.

"How are you feeling?"

He touched his body, moved his arms, extended his legs, and made sure that everything moved accordingly to his wishes.

"A little cold, but apart from that I'm alright…"

The temperature he felt was due to the blood that was still lacking a bit. Reassured, she told him about their current situation. After a while, a polite knocking came from the door.

"If you are all awake, the Master would like to speak to you."

Wilhelm helped Armant to get up, while Erina opened them the door. The smiling maid leading the way, they walked up to the throne room once again. This time, it was Armant who came in front and apologized to the spirit on the throne.

"I pray you will forgive me for not being able to greet you properly the first time we met, Councillor Axarion. Allow me to present myself once again. I am Armant Electra, son of the king of Rida Merick Electra, and current heir to the throne."

Of course, he was not officially the heir yet, but the ageless spirit didn't need to know that.

"It is not a concern, prince Armant, but what you said intrigues me. You're the son of the king, is there not a Councillor anymore?"

"The sanctuaries fell 600 years ago, your excellency. For reasons unknown, hell broke loose and all the sanctuaries except Rida became piles of rubbles."

Shocked gasps were heard all over the room. The knights behind the king looked at the prince, unwilling to believe him. The maids around held their hands in front of their mouths. Only the golems and the humans didn't move. That reaction was understandable. After all, before their fall, the sanctuaries were all powerful. The humans had a total monopoly over the continent. Of course, they couldn't take on dangerous entities like the dragon lords, but beastmen, trolls, monsters, giants, basically every race that could be fought on a human level had been defeated or destroyed from the inside. And if one country or race revealed itself to be too powerful, humans made deals with them to turn them into allies. To think that such a powerful alliance fell was something unthinkable.

"I see… With the fall of the sanctuaries, there is indeed no need for a council anymore. What a sad end for us…"

That being said, the spirit didn't seem to mind at all. His face remained the epitome of boringness.

"I chose to raise back up for a very particular reason, I wanted to see the end of the world from my own eyes. But it is hard to think we failed… But apart from that, I think it is time to reach the original point of this conversation."

Armant gulped.

"Indeed, your excellency. As my sister said, we were attacked by vampires outside of your tomb. We need to get out, as we do not wish to die of hunger, so we would like to request aid from your part."

There was a moment of silence. The spirit calmly looked at the humans in front of him. He seemed to be thinking, and finally his answer came.

"I will not help you."

Those five words shook Armant to the core. He was certain the spirit had no reason to refuse.

"Excuse me, your excellency, may I know the reasons of your choice?"

The ghost sighed, and looked away.

"I spent so much time here, I cannot remember the last time something excited me. Your death should at least provide a basic form of enjoyment..."

The prince couldn't believe his ears. He thought the man would at least lend them a single golem to help. But no. He refused for such selfish reasons. But then he remembered. That attitude was one of the many reasons why the sanctuaries fell. The ruling cast grew spoiled, and looked for entertainment anywhere it could be found. The man sat on the throne was one of those people. Except he spent centuries doing nothing, and that only strengthened that thirst for entertainment.

The spirit raised from the throne, and signaled his knights.

"Lead them to the gates."

The knights unsheathed their blades, and pointed them at the humans, forcing them towards the gate. While they walked, the king spoke.

"Do not worry, you will not go outside unarmed. I prepared a few pieces of equipment, so you'll last longer."

 _'_ _How generous…'_

When they reached the gate they had crossed not a long time ago, they saw a few weapons lying on a table. A two-handed sword, the sheath's leather completely rotten. A cracked bow and a quiver with five arrows in. A dagger, with its blade broken near the end. An arming sword, rusted all over. And, to add insult to the injury, an armor stand with a few pieces of mismatched armor. Of course, nothing was enchanted.

All the members of Wolf Fang looked in disbelief at the pathetic excuse of armament that was presented to them.

The spirit king looked at them with a somewhat irritated expression.

"We are ghosts. We do not need weapons. Those are the least damaged pieces of equipment my knights used when they were still alive. Be glad there's still something usable after all those centuries."

"Thanks… I guess."

Still not believing the fact that the spirit sent them to their deaths, they chose what they used better. Naturally, Wilhelm went to put on the rusted armor. He only had a chainmail covering his chest, right arm and half of the left arm, and a conical helmet with a nasal protection. He had to put on more layers of clothes to replace the lacking padded vest beneath the armor. After equipping to the best he could, he grabbed the two-handed sword, and unsheathed it, examining the blade. Luckily, even the rotted sheath somewhat protected the metal, and only a few brown rust spots tarnished the grey, dull blade.

Turning around, he saw that Armant had picked the arming sword, and tried to at least brush off a little of the rust. Erina had grabbed the dagger.

Axarion seemed to be as bored as ever, as he ordered.

"Open the gate. Knights, I do not want any vampire in my hold, so hold them back if they try to get in. Golems, get behind the knights. You there, open the gate."

As the soldiers formed up behind the humans, a maid went near the lever. When the king confirmed, she pulled it down. And just like last time, it opened in an irritatingly slow way. However, it was beneficial for once. Erina approached the two men, and whispered quietly.

"I have a plan…"

* * *

When the door finally stopped moving, a gruesome, but expected sight welcomed them. A wall of spears, swords and other weapons, held by grinning monsters. Behind them, a few held bows, and the blood mage looked at them with bloodshot eyes. Beside him, Malik, who seemed to like dramatic poses. He was standing on a crate, higher than his men.

The sight was impressive, but of one looked more calmly, there were roughly 40 vampires. A lot, but not to the point that it would be impossible to win.

"Finally, the gate opens! Spirit, I don't know who you are, or what do you want, but once I've dealt with those pesky humans, I'll seize the secrets of your tomb! "

With that declaration, the fight began. The trio of humans couldn't go back because of the ghosts, and there were vampires in front of them.

"Well, here goes nothing! **[Lightning]!"**

Erina launched the first part of the plan she had imagined to get out of here. The straight line of energy pierced through three bloodsuckers on the right part of their formation, instantly killing them. The rest didn't need any explanation and spread out to avoid heavy casualties. The blood mage in the back seemed surprised.

"A third-tier magic caster? You have your ways, human, I'll give you that. But we never planned on letting you out of here alive. **[Scarlet pool]!"**

The ground became the color of the blood, and Erina felt her strength waning. On the other side, the vampires walking into the spell's range slightly glowed. They had to break out fast.

Following the plan, Wilhelm ran straight into the right part of the encirclement, where Erina had cast her first spell. They had spread out, and their resolve had wavered when they realized they faced a third-tier magic caster. Thus, they couldn't use the strength of their numbers like they wanted to initially.

The warden blocked the sword of the first opponent he met, and then kicked him with the help of the martial art: **[Lesser strengthening]**. The strength of the kick made the vampire lose his balance and fall on one of his comrades. As he faced the direction he had kicked, a vampire tried to slash his back with a sword, but Armant who had followed the warden blocked the strike, pushed the sword back and thrusted into the unprotected stomach. The bloodsucker watched the blade impaling him, but it was too late. The prince then turned back and tried to cut the arm of a vampire Wilhelm had locked blades with.

Unfortunately, the centuries-old sword wasn't very sharp, so the strike only pushed back the hand holding the blade. But that was enough for the warden to grab the weapon, and tear it out of the owner's hands.

Of course, the opponent tried to keep his weapon, but that only served Wilhelm as he suddenly raised his blade, and used the cross-guard to piece one of the vampire's eye. The vampire backed away, but Erina cast **[Lightning bolt],** killing him.

The spellcaster didn't really need to fight. She had cast **[One with the storm]** and a deadly zone had appeared around her. Two vampires had already tried to brave the danger, but they quickly backed away when thunder sparks had wounded them and the metal parts of their armor got dangerously hot.

Before going away on an adventure, she wouldn't have been able to manipulate mana so precisely. Wilhelm and Armant would have been taken into the spell's effect too. But know that she fought multiple times different monsters, she felt stronger, and more confident. She was sure of one thing now, the "Ley-vel up" that she heard some mercenaries speak about was real. It was a very strange thing, but by battling monsters and honing their skills, something happened. A fighter would need ten hard hits before starting to bleed, while a regular human would only take two or three before needing urgent healing. A mage would understand magic theories they didn't before, and be able to use them. An archer would be able to aim more precisely, find a monster's weak point more easily and such.

As she followed the two men, she took some time to cast **[Thunder bolt]** multiple times and sniped the archers that tried to do the same in the back. Watching over the battle, she was reassured that the vampires were acting like she thought they would.

There weren't much that actually fought the humans. Most of them were trying to enter the tomb, but the ghost knights had a nigh-unbreakable formation. The vampires had a hard time to understand what was happening, and rightfully so. They tried to attack, but their weapons simply passed through the spectral bodies, while the ghost's weapon pierced effortlessly the vampire's armors.

The blood mage had already understood what was happening, and had cast **[Bloody weaponry]** to temporarily add magic damage to the vampire's weapons. But the ghosts had a tight formation. And the golems behind them provided a powerful support.

The only opponents that actively tried to kill Wolf Fang were a few vampires that followed them when the humans broke out of the encirclement, two figures in heavy armor, and Malik himself. The blood mage was busy providing support to the other clan members who tried to force their way into the tomb.

The humans quickly dealt with the few normal vampires remaining as the clan leader approached, blade in hand, followed by the armored figures.

Malik himself had a sleek black light armor, which followed the curves of his body, a red cape on his back, and a strange-looking curved sword. She wasn't from this part of the world so she couldn't know, but any educated person would have recognized a scimitar, a curved, single-edged sword that some demi-human tribes were known to wield with great dexterity.

The two armored figures were massive. At least two meters in height, and the bulky outline made them look more like golems. They held a mace in one hand, and a tower shield in the other, covering 3/4th of their body. They proved not to be golems when one of them spoke.

"Malik-sama has showed you grace by not turning you into lowly zombies, and that is your answer? How disrespectful!"

As Erina finished the three vampires that followed them out of the encirclement, Wilhelm answered.

"Well, you turned me into a vampire, and I don't like that. At. All."

The clan leader smirked.

"You are a fool, for turning down that blessing. You know it calls to you! The smell of blood! The temptation of a defenseless neck! I am truly disappointed. I will have to clean that stain myself."

No more words were said, but the fight began. The two armored figures went into Wilhelm's and Armant's direction, while Malik approached Erina who was preparing a spell. He had already seen her prowess in magic, but he wasn't worried.

From what he had seen, she was an elementalist, able to cast spells at least from pyromancy and aeromancy. He hadn't seen her cast spell from the aquamancy, or terramancy repertoire, but based on her skills it wouldn't be far-fetched to think she could. Despite his bravado, he had a careful personality, and only went into a fight when he was sure he had all the odds at his side. That was one of the reasons he became the clan chief while his opponents were "accidentally" killed or that "somehow" someone gave the adventurer guild the location of a powerful vampire.

And right now, he was sure to be the winner of this engagement, but not the same thing could be said about the two others. The humans were under-equipped, and the younger one was not using his main weapon, but they fared quite well. As for his own fight, he had realized something about her. Even without her staff, she proved to be able to cast spells up to the third tier, and at quite a young age. If he killed her now, he would get rid of a potential human adamantite adventurer.

Even if he was running, her casting speed was truly incredible. She released a **[Lightning]** , but as he expected, the spell vanished just before hitting him. He truly enjoyed the face of incredulity she had right now. That was thanks to the [Inquisitor's trusted cape], the piece of cloth on his shoulders. A relic of the clan, that negated any spell lower than the fourth tier and granted a resistance towards higher tiered spells.

If the woman had been a adamantite adventurer, he would be a little afraid, because there were rumors of adamantite adventurers being able to cast really powerful spells. There was no way a lowly mythril plate would be able to overpower the cape's protection.

He finally came into range, and slashed at her left arm. The blade, helped by the great strength that was a vampire's characteristic, bit cruelly into the flesh and the enchanted metal further ruptured the wounded skin. Her cry of rage and pain stood out even among the chaos of the battle. He chuckled. Now, all he had to do was to finish her quickly, then the two who were fighting his personal guards, and force his way into the tomb.

However, he didn't expect the woman to have enough strength left to suddenly thrust her dagger with the other hand. Completely taken by surprise, the blade sunk deep into his cheek. It had been a long time since he had been wounded, and the pain made him release a cry of rage too.

Both grievously wounded, they stepped back from the engagement. He took out the dagger, further worsening the wound, and he could feel air flow from the holes he had now on his cheeks. But his vampiric nature kicked in, and they slowly started to heal. On the other side, she tried to cover the wound to avoid much blood loss.

"You are skilled, spellcaster. Why not become a part of the clan?"

Actually, he wasn't even mad at her. It had been a long time since someone wounded him like that, and it impressed him.

"I won't embrace darkness, monster. A thousand deaths are not even enough for you!"

The answer didn't surprise him. He was disappointed, but that was all. She had a strong will. Even when he used his eyes to try to charm her earlier, she didn't even flinch. He stepped forward, intending to finish her.

Even in her weakened state, she raised a hand. He knew it was a futile action, born from her despair, but he didn't want to take the odds. He ran, but once again he was too slow.

 **[Mass sparks]!**

Countless streaks of energy jumped out of her hands, and connected to his body. The initial shock completely took him by surprise. The cape should have protected him! However, the energy released by her hand didn't seem to stop, and the pain he felt showed that the strength of the spell bypassed the protection.

"Tell me…"

One wounded arm along the body, the other still releasing energy, she raised her head.

"How does it feel…"

She stepped forward, approaching him slowly. He tried to do something, anything! But no limbs moved. He wished to move. He tried to force, but the current kept the muscles unmoving.

"To be defeated…"

He couldn't control his muscles anymore, so he lost his balance and fell. Now lying on the ground, he only saw the mage in a corner of his vision.

"By someone that…"

She stopped right in front of him. Smoke started being emitted from the wound on his cheeks. Ironically, they were being cauterized.

"You call an "unworthy insect"?"

The light emitted by the spell lit her face in an upward angle, and gave her an intimidating expression. That would be the last thing he would see, because his eyes couldn't support the current passing through his body, and they exploded. Confused, left in a world of darkness, he understood something and said one last thing. Or it would be more accurate to say he _tried_ to say one last thing.

"S-S-S-S-S-Six-Sixth…"

His organs literally cooked by Erina's spell, he lost his unlife and stopped moving. She stopped providing mana, but his body stayed in the position he was in, the muscles still stimulated by the electricity.

A little bit further into the room, the blood mage couldn't believe his eyes. Nor any of his other senses, for that matter. The only human who had attained sixth-tier magic was Fluder Paradyne, the court wizard of the Baharuth Empire. Yet, a woman who only was nearing thirty years old literally cooked Malik in his armor with such a spell.

In his normal state, he would have immediately attacked her to use the fact that she was severely wounded. But he was paralyzed. Not from the effect of a spell, but because of fear.

"What have we brought on us?..."

Because he stopped supporting the vampires who were fighting the ghosts and golems, they immediately started to fall like flies, cut apart by spectral blades, or crushed by the massive golems. They started panicking, and it didn't take long for the morale to break, and for them to run away.

"No! Fight back **[Boiling blood]!"**

The magic made them go berserk, and a glint of madness appeared in their eyes. They didn't differentiate between friends or foes anymore, and attacked indiscriminately everyone around them. The spellcaster had made a fatal mistake. Most of the vampires were closer to other vampires than ghosts, and they started to kill each other, ignoring the ghosts and golems.

"No! Don't! Damn it all! I'll st-"

His shout was interrupted by one of his kin, who tackled him with a war cry. He tried to defend himself, but he had dropped his staff. The crazed vampire thrusted a sword at his face. Except the sword had snapped during the fight, and the broken bit wasn't piercing the skin at all. Instead, his face became an unrecognizable gory pulp as it was hammered.

It only required a few more minutes for the majority of the vampires to kill each other.

* * *

The warden's fight with the armored vampire was not a hard one. Wilhelm was a palace guard, and only the best Ridan soldiers were selected for that duty. He was trained to deal with a lot of enemies, and had trained with different weapons. Of course, his main weapon remained the axe, but he rivaled any good soldier with swords, spears, halberds and maces. On top of his training, he knew a lot of martial art centered around the element of fire, one of the most efficient element against vampires.

He had wounded already his opponent by attacking with the element of fire, but took some hits back. He was trained to fight with a full plate armor, protecting his whole body. And he only had the two-handed sword to defend himself, as the broken and rusted chain mail gave nearly no protection.

But his enemy had a heavy mace, that was easy to avoid if one looked carefully. After avoiding a swipe by ducking, he swiped as well at his opponent's legs. Just as he expected, the vampire brought his shield down, intending to trap the two-handed sword between the shield and the ground.

He let his sword be trapped, and activated **[Strengthening].** With the help of the martial art, he grabbed the upper corner of the shield with the left hand and teared it out of his opponent's grasp. The vampire tried a downward swing to crush the warden's head, but he avoided the hit by moving a step to the left.

With the shield gone, he could take back the sword and face again his opponent. The armored vampire had now grasped his weapon with two hands. He tried a downward strike again, probably VERY frustrated. This time, the warden ducked under the hit and thrust at the unprotected armpit.

Two-handed swords are not made for thrusting, and even less the blade dulled by the centuries. But Wilhelm had become a vampire, and he was still under the effects of the martial art. Thanks to these characteristics giving him an inhuman strength, the metal teared apart the skin beneath the padded vest. The blade totally messed up the vampire's lungs, and its heart not long after.

After such a fatal strike, there was no way he could have survived. And he didn't. The armored vampire fell to the ground. Just to be sure, Wilhelm raised the visor of the helmet and thrust the sword into its skull. With the confirmation of his death, he quickly joined Armant who was struggling against his opponent.

The prince's rusted blade had snapped, and all he did since the weapon broke was avoiding the hits. Luckily, he was way more agile than the warden, and no hits found their target yet. With his field of vision limited by his helmet, the vampire didn't see Wilhelm coming from behind, nor did he hear the chainmail because of the sound his own armor produced

Wilhelm grabbed his sword into a mordhau grip. **(Author: A mordhau grip is done by grabbing the sword by the blade to use the pommel, grip and cross-guard to deal with armored opponents. It's totally safe for the warrior, and is proved to be historically used.)** The sword secured in his grasp, he took his time to move it all the way back, and launched a hit in the vampire's leg.

The heavy sword, helped by the speed Wilhelm had given it, fractured the vampire's knee. Completely taken aback from a situation where he was winning to one where he received a crippling injury, the bloodsucker screamed and fell. Wilhelm then raised his sword high, and hammered at his grounded enemy's helmet. Again. And again. And again. Until the metal got totally distorted by the violent treatment it was given.

The vampire was weeping out of pain. All of his facial bones were fractured, one of his eyes was pierced by a piece of his visor that got twisted by the strikes, and even his fangs were broken. The warden then calmly took back the sword into a normal grasp, and ended the vampire's suffering by thrusting it through the deformed eye slit.

Panting, Armant nodded to thank him, and looked around. A last vampire was trying to kill a ghost knight, but got swiftly decapitated. All the other ones had either escaped, or lied on the ground. A little further, Erina was walking into Armant's and Wilhelm's direction. She was grimacing while holding a large piece of cloth stained with blood on her left arm.

With his companions not in immediate danger, he then looked at the stone gate. It was already closing, and the last thing he saw was the spirit king, with his eternal bored expression. When the doors finished their slow movement, a loud _thump_ echoed in the now strangely silent room.

"Are you alright?"

As soon he saw her, Wilhelm swiftly joined Erina.

"I need a healing spell or a potion, because the wound is pretty deep. We should have had some wands charged with healing spells in what they took from us. Let's hurry and find it."

Not sure that all the vampires were dead or had left, they stay grouped and searched the room they were in.

Sadly, the humans tied to wooden logs were done for. The four of them had witnessed all the fight, and as soon as they were freed they asked for a swift death. After such an experience, they couldn't live a normal life anymore. With a bittersweet feeling, Erina handed them a dagger and turned away. She tried to ignore the quiet gurgle each time a throat was slit.

Another corner of the room was what looked like an alchemist work station. On a table was a lot of glassware, tubes and bottles, some filled with a strange liquid, some empty. On other tables were books, sheets of paper covered with an almost unreadable writing and symbols. Most likely the blood mage's work station. Erina took most of the books in the bag of holding, the adventurer's guild or the mage's guild might be interested, but they gathered the rest in a big pile and set it on fire.

The altar had been cleaned while they rested in the spirit's tomb, but there was nothing of interest on it.

The last noticeable thing in the room were the crates piled up. Inside, all manner of items, ranging from clothes, firewood, alchemy ingredients and bottles of wines. Those were probably the necessary items the vampires bought to live a comfortable life here.

Seeing as there was nothing of interest here, they decided to look into the room Malik had came from when they got discovered. They took the path near the cell where Wilhelm had been imprisoned for that. Erina feared for a moment that it would bring him horrible memories, but the only reaction she saw from him was a glint of sadness in his eyes for a moment. Reassured, she opened the door to Malik's room and started to search for anything of interest.

It was a rectangular room, fitted with very luxurious pieces of furniture and, curiously, a bed. Weren't vampires undead, and thus didn't have the need to sleep? She guessed that even a dead creature could enjoy the softness of a bed once in a while.

She found a lot of papers on a desk, and decided to take it all too. With all the wares that had been brought here, it was very probable Malik had a contact with a human, or had infiltrated a human city. The empire's adventurer guild would surely find the culprit with that information.

Apart from a few jewels (which they happily stuffed in the bag of holding), there was nothing of interest here. And it concerned the group. Armant and Erina even more than Wilhelm.

That was because they had received from the best smiths and enchanters of the kingdom very particular equipment. Even Wilhelm didn't know about it, and those who knew the effects of that equipment were even less.

For Erina, it was a brooch, made from white gold, regular gold and multiple small diamonds. It represented the blooming of knowledge she wished to spread in the kingdom. For Armant, it was a bracer for his right hand, made from fogzephyr, a metal as hard as adamantium yet very light. It represented the strength his people would give him once he would become the king.

Both the brooch and the bracer were enchanted with magic that protected up to the seventh tier of magic, and could reduce the impact of very powerful physical attacks. It was the pinnacle of Ridan technology, and cost at least as much as a castle to craft. Around seven years were needed to assemble the items necessary for the enchantment ceremony, and only the very best hunters and gatherers could do it. After that, enchanters needed to stay a whole month solely focused on that task, not even stopping channeling and manipulating mana once. During that time, spells would be cast on them to eliminate the need to sleep, and they were fed only with carefully selected dishes that wouldn't disturb their concentration. Only after all those sacrifices, could such a powerful item be crafted. The effects made the wearer nearly impervious to all forms of attack for ten seconds, and it needed a whole day to be used again. Well, not all forms of attack, but a being able to penetrate a protection that could protect from seventh-tier magic would probably mean the end of the world.

After carefully inspecting the room, Armant noticed something. One bookshelf was placed a few centimeters away from the wall. With Wilhelm's help, they pushed it aside to reveal a cavity with a small lever. Once pulled, the sound of a stone rasping against stone revealed an entrance to a secret room that couldn't be seen before.

After carefully watching from outside to make sure there were no traps, they entered into a rather small room, filled with all sorts of equipment. Was it a treasure trove? Their eyes glittered with excitation at the thought, but the feeling quickly faded away.

Indeed, there were a lot of weapons hanging on the walls, different pieces of armor and two staves lying in a corner. But everything was low grade. The armors were either made from iron or steel, the leather was normal, and the two staves were the types that would be bought by mages able to cast up to second-tier magic. Only a few were enchanted, and the magic itself wasn't powerful. Amidst this feeling of disappointment, Wilhelm's voice stood out.

"Well, it makes sense if you think about it. If they attacked adventurers stronger than the iron plate, rescuing parties would be sent to help by the guild. By capturing low-levelled adventurers and simple villagers, they didn't bring much attention to them. It only makes sense that some weak adventurer teams die to ogres which are said to be seen in this forest…"

At least, they found their equipment quickly. It lied in a corner, untouched. They were lucky that the vampires didn't decide to use it, because it would have complicated very much the human's fight. It was with much delight that Erina finally retrieved a wand charged with a healing spell and used it on herself.

As Wilhelm and Armant left the room to respect her privacy, she undressed and put on each piece individually, enjoying the feeling of power infused into her body each time one was secured. When she finished, she was brimming with confidence. Erina the survivor was no more, instead there was Erina the adventurer of Wolf Fang.

She searched quickly through the room, and found a small jewellery box lying on a shelf. When she opened it, she saw what they had searched for months. The [circlet of the Reckless one]. The last item of the set. The belt was already secured on her body, the ring was worn on a finger, and the circlet lied in front of her.

She couldn't equip her [Crown of calm mind] and the circlet at the same time because the enchantments would conflict with each other, but she didn't mind. The crown only helped her to remain calm during stressful situations, but so far it wasn't very useful. She had totally lost her mind when she got captured. Maybe if she didn't wear the crown at that time, she would have recognized the danger sooner.

It was with no hesitation that she took out the crown of her head, and observed the circlet. It was a beautiful object. At first, it looked like a simple grey steel band one would put on its head, but if one looked closer he would be able to see the fine engravings adorning the metal. On the front, a small blue gem was socketed.

She put the [Crown of calm mind] into the small jewellery box, packed it into the bag of holding, and went outside to meet the two men.

* * *

When Erina got out of the room, Wilhelm, fully equipped too, whistled. If she looked like a normal mage before, now she looked like an adventurer of the highest order.

On her blond hair, the [Circlet of the reckless one] gave a simple yet elegant feeling. On her body, the combination of the [Pants of swiftness], the [Destruction vest] and [Belt of the reckless one] gave the impression of a seasoned mage, allowing both practicality and refinement with a blue and silver tone. On her hands, the leather [Gloves of mana manipulation] had a few bands of metal woven in to add some defensive abilities. On one hand, the simple-looking [Ring of the reckless one], and on the other hand two [Rings of focus], made from gold and socketed with a small ruby. On her feet, the leather from the knee-high [Boots of sure step] reflected the light coming from above.

Wilhelm had discarded the two-handed sword, and instead was grasping the handle of the [Volcanic axe] in his hand. The handle was dark grey in color, while the blade itself was made from a red metal. Created with the help of Soul magic, it improved the damages of each attacks imbued with the element of fire. In his left hand a triangular shield, and on his whole body, a full plate armor with little to no opening. Forged from fogzephyr, the same metal Armant's bracer was made of, it was enchanted to further improve its hardness. The sabatons had little studs at the end, and were enchanted to improve the damage dealt if he kicked someone. Quite a dirty trick for a palace guard, but this unusual fighting technique had surprised quite a few already. On his head, a conical helmet closed by a visor and enchanted to protect from blunt damage made sure that he would remain able to fight for a long time.

Armant was impressed by Erina too, his equipment didn't look as refined as hers. His upper body was covered with the [Fool's deception], a dragon leather armor enchanted to look like a normal leather armor. Until one dealt a very powerful blow, it wouldn't even be scratched. He held the crossbow he had engineered himself in his hands. It looked like a normal crossbow, but there was a small metallic rectangular box fixed to the bottom which could contain up to five bolts, and a small mechanism in the stock assured that the string would be automatically pulled back each time a bolt was shot. At his belt, a quiver full of bolts, and on the opposite side a shortsword sheathed in wood and leather. He was a sharpshooter, and he wasn't the best at close quarters combat. To compensate for that, the shortsword was enchanted to improve his strength once wielded.

"That looks good on you!"

She thanked the warden's compliment by smiling to him, and Armant spoke.

"It seems you found the last piece of the set, Erina. Feeling different than before?"

Focusing, she was surprised at the reserve of mana she could use now. Compared to before, she felt her mana pool had became bigger by one third. The sentient item set also told that the "destructive power of her spells would improve". That also meant that the damage dealt by each spell would become stronger. Frankly speaking, with her natural talent as a spellcaster, with her equipment that complemented her skills and with her talent that made her mana regenerate at a faster rate, there were few mages that could match her skills, and even less that were stronger than her in this part of the world.

"I never felt better. Shall we plunder their equipment?"

The two men smiled. Even if working as an adventurer was a very dangerous profession, the moment where one looted their enemies was one of the most gratifying. Walking back to the room they fought in, they searched the bodies one by one, looking for any piece of jewellery, any coin and any noteworthy equipment.

When every corpse was looted and every purse lightened, everything was passed to Erina to check the enchantments. She wasn't an official enchanter, but she had received a basic education on the subject, and could identify roughly the effects of an enchanted item.

She went through the few enchanted items of the pile, but nothing matched the equipment's power or defensive ability they already had. At least, they would make a good amount of coin out of them. However, the last item was different. She had detected an enchantment as soon as she saw the cape earlier, but had left it for the end. Leaving the best for the end, such was her motto.

The cape itself was a very beautiful object. It's color was mainly dark red, but had a golden lining on the outer part. In the middle, a stylized "I" with a decorated skull above made the main decoration. Two square rubies on the upper part could be attached to the shoulders of the wearer to hold it in place.

As she focused on the piece of cloth, Wilhelm who was watching the surroundings jumped when she suddenly swore.

" Hell! That's… That's awesome! I can't pinpoint the effectiveness of the enchantment, but that cape should be able to completely protect against third tier magic, and give partial protection at least to the fifth tier. That item can be considered at a national treasure level!"

Wilhelm whistled, and Armant looked more intensively at the object. For him, this was good news, but also bad news.

"That's indeed a very powerful item… At least in this part of the world. We have to be careful. We haven't been adventurers for long, and I know that some people are prepared to do anything to get their hands on it. A noble could decide to take it from us under the reason of "protecting the nation". The question is, are we ready to take them on? Is it worth it?"

While Erina folded the item, the three of them thought of the consequences.

"In this part of the world, they don't know about Rida, so they can't blackmail us. Except if someone somehow knows, but I doubt they'll discover it. I am a skilled frontliner, Armant, you're a skilled sharpshooter and Erina is a skilled spellcaster. Except for a few individuals, I think it's safe to say that we're the best geared people. If they try to attack us, we should be good. The only thing we lack is a healer. We can buy items for that, but they can't replace the real deal. Without them, we're defenseless against poisons, curses and attrition battles. But I think we should be alright. With the bag of holding and the fortune we'll get from selling all that, we should be able to stock up a lot of consumables."

Armant and Erina nodded, agreeing. She was humble, but she knew how to see her own achievements. She then handed the folded cape to the warden.

"Wilhelm, you're our frontliner. You're already resilient to physical attacks, but with that you'll become unstoppable unless our opponent is very powerful."

The warden accepted the item gracefully, and put it on. It was truly a piece befitting of a king.

But now they had only one last thing to do. They had found a bunch of keys in a small chest, and it probably opened all the prisoner cells.

Walking back in the mine, they reached the holding area after finally finding their way in the maze. But there was a problem. Even after opening the cells, the slaves kept an apathetic look and refused to move, only asking for the "soup".

Of course they would. The addiction they had for the drug diluted in their daily meal had gotten to a point that nothing more mattered to them. The obvious solution would be to have a priest cast a spell on them to cleanse the body of the substance. But they didn't have one, and the few healing items they had bought couldn't heal all of them.

And they couldn't leave them be. Firstly: it would be inhuman. Leaving more than a hundred people alone in the caves, surrounded by woods inhabited by monsters would be no different than killing them on the spot. Except they would suffer much more. The second reason was that if they were left alone but managed to survived, the probability of a bandit group rising was very high. They could collect weapons from the vampire's bodies and they were all addicted to a drug.

Deciding of a compromise, they used healing items to free ten of them from the addiction. Five of them would stay here to take care of the rest, while the five others would be given a few gold coins. With that money, they would go to a temple and request some priests.

It was possible that they would simply decide to run with the gold, but at that point it wouldn't be the adventurer's responsibility. All they could do was to count on goodwill.

After that was done and the five villagers started walking in the closest town's direction, Wolf Fang left too. It was now time to go to E-rantel and request an audience with the sorcerer king to lift Wilhelm's curse.

* * *

 **Hello there,**

 **A lot of people asked in the comments, and I can confirm: Nazarick is coming. Our papa bones will have an important place in the story.  
**

 **I want to say a big thank you to Tomosada, who helped me a lot!**

 **I don't know if you are all aware, but there's an official discord overlord server (well, by "official" I mean the most serious one), it's nice if you want to speak about overlord with others. Go on overlordmaruyama wiki to get the invitation.**

 **Comments are really appreciated, please don't hesitate to send me a PM if you have a question.**

 **Maybe you haven't noticed, but I began to edit the earliest chapters to correct some plot holes, weird translation or errors. I'll keep doing it, but I'll keep my main focus on writing the next chapter.**

 **Have a nice day/night, and see you next publication!**


	15. Chapter 14: Power is everything

**The vampires are finally dead (and for good) and Erina has put her hand on the last gear of her set, the [Gear of the reckless one]. But at what price? Wilhelm turned in a vampire, such is the price of power. With no else to turn themselves too, they decide to ask an audience to the sorcerer king, master of life and death. With his knowledge, surely he can turn Wilhelm back into a human, right?**

* * *

The room was silent, except for the almost inaudible sound of bone rubbing against bone.

"Death is but a state of being for me. An illness that I can cure, and the same thing can be said about vampirism. However, warden, wouldn't your vampire state allow you to accomplish your duties with more ease?"

Ainz Ooal Gown, the sorcerous king had a deep, charismatic voice. Sat on his throne, he completely contrasted with Erina's image of the undead.

He was dressed more richly than a noble would be at the feast to celebrate the inheritance of his title.

The length of his vestments and the spread of their hem seemed very comfortable, and his sleeves were surprisingly loose. The hem and sleeves were made of spotless white fabric and they were lightly decorated with gold and purple. It was bound up at the waist with a sash, but it did not seem strange at all. Bizarre as it might be, it exuded an exotic flavor, and "beautiful" was the only word she could use to describe it.

He wore gloves that were colored the same as his garments, fitted with metal plates that sparkled in all the colors of the rainbow.

Slightly behind him, a world-class beauty stood.

Her face was elegant and attractive. Her incalculably expensive white dress was free of stains.

Her compassionate smile was enough to make her a woman who might have been mistaken for an angel. However, she was no angel. The proof lay in the pair of jet-black wings sprouting from her waist.

His view of an undead king totally shattered, Wilhelm found the strength to answer after a short moment.

"I prize my humanity, your majesty. It is what made me what I am today. I certainly agree with you that being a vampire has advantages when it comes to combat, but I am a warden. I cannot allow my mistress to be slandered because of me, thus I cannot stay in that state. Also, while I agree thanks to your majesty's example that not all undead are the same, the same thing cannot be said about the Ridan population. Having an undead servant would mark her as a traitor to the nation."

The skeleton kept rubbing his chin.

"Well, it is true that I am an oddity compared to my fellow undead. Then, what can you offer me, to turn you back into a human? "

The crucial moment was now. If they asked for a low price, they would offend the undead king, and probably lose their only chance of negotiation. If they asked for a high price, they would get shamelessly ripped off. They had to find the right price.

And right now, Armant's brain was working at full speed. He was the heir to the throne, so negotiating the price was his task. He had already asked Erina's help before the audience, and there were several things that were out of the picture.

Obviously, a price in gold was out of the question. The sorcerous king had no need for any gold. The second problem of the sorcerous kingdom's land was the size.

The sorcerous kingdom was a small territory, and needed land to farm and provide food for its citizens. But sadly, the scale of a portal big enough to move hundreds of tons of food would be impossible for Ridan mages. They couldn't ask the sorcerer king for help because they were the ones paying here. They couldn't provide other resources like minerals, metals or anything for the same reasons.

That left one thing that Rida had that the people from here didn't: knowledge. The technology to build magic cannons, and the mastery of soul magic. While waiting for the audience, he had spent a long time to choose.

Magic cannons were the pride of Rida. If one asked in the streets, only a few would slander this technology and the strength it provided to the army. Before he left the country, there were even talks to change the official flag to add a cannon in it. This war machine had become the symbol of Rida, and had totally changed conventional warfare because of its strength. Surrendering it would cause a great public backlash that could cost him a lot.

On the other side, soul magic was not as popular. Some religions wanted to ban its use, saying that meddling with the soul of the dead was too close to necromancy. And in a way, they were right. A cannoneer needed roughly a few months to be trained to use, aim and shoot a magic cannon. A soul magic user needed at least five years just to understand how to extract the life force of the souls for spellcasting, and even more years to master different spells. And it cost a lot.

And there was another thing that Erina told him. Even if soul magic was powerful, it was slowly going out of fashion. Tier-magic was way more practical, less dangerous to the user and faster to cast. It was a sad reality that the prestigious Galhambra magic academy (which specialized in teaching wild magic) in the capital had more and more empty classes, and struggled to maintain its domain, having to sell a part of it. Considering all of that, the choice was clear.

"Your majesty Gown, while heading towards your palace, my sister noticed that no one in this city knew how to use wild magic. I do not mean to disrespect you by saying that, so please forgive me if I did offend you. In exchange of Wilhelm's humanization, once I become the king I will send soul magic teachers to your kingdom, and instruct them to teach their craft to your people. I hope that this secret shall be enough of a payment, and this contact the beginning of a friendly relation between our countries."

The skeleton king was rubbing his chin. Armant had already grasped his personality. He was a tyrant, but a smart tyrant. Every action had a hidden meaning, and he couldn't fathom what horrible schemes were being planned inside that skull. The amiable front he showed was just a facade he used to deceive his opponents.

' _Wild magic! Now that would be interesting! That's about the only power Nazarick is totally undefended against… That's definitely something that I want. However, I can't accept just like that, that would make me too soft of a ruler… Aahh, why is everything so complicated in politics! I need a break. Maybe do some sightseeing? But if I just walked in E-rantel's streets, that would hardly count as a holiday, right? Hmmm... There's this thing with the Holy Kingdom's delegation which came earlier too. Wait, I know what I'll do! '_

After a short time of "scheming", he answered.

"That is certainly an interesting proposition, Armant Electra. However! My services are not cheap, and you shall provide one more thing. In several days, I will leave to the Holy Kingdom. I want to recruit you as adventurers, and to act as my bodyguards during that time. I shall turn the knight into a human once my deal is done."

Armant was truly at loss. Why would he ask this of the three adventurers?

"We accept graciously, your majesty, but wouldn't your guards perform this duty way better than us?"

 _'Well, he's not wrong, except I doubt people will have a shred of sympathy and trust to me if I come with a full battalion of death knights..."  
_

"The Holy Kingdom is a place full of religious people, and I believe having human bodyguards will lessen their bias towards me."

The prince bowed.

"Very well, your majesty. We shall accept."

As there was nothing more to be said, Erina and Wilhelm bowed as well, and all left the throne room.

* * *

The day after the audience, the trio of adventurers joined the sorcerer king in his trip. He was inside a luxurious carriage along with Neia Baraja, a squire of the Holy Kingdom that apparently had become his aid.

Neia is a woman with short blonde hair and beady black eyes slanted upwards, giving the impression that she is constantly glaring at others. She also carried a sword at her waist, emblazoned with the crest of the Holy Kingdom's knight order. Additionally, she adorns a blackish cape on top of her attire.

While her eyes didn't inspire trust, it didn't really bother Erina. As a member of royalty, she had met a lot of people, some stranger than the young squire.

While Neia stayed inside the carriage with the sorcerer king, Erina, Wilhelm and Armant followed on undead horses provided by Ainz Ooal Gown. Despite her initial disgust at having to mount an undead creature, the pack of bones didn't tire, and followed the carriage. Pulled by undead horses, the carriage moved at a considerable speed and stayed stable despite the uneven road.

On the second day of travel, Erina was bored. She had burrowed herself into a cape to repel the chilly wind, and Armant and Wilhelm knew better than herself how to spot hiding enemies. She was daydreaming, looking at the mountain range on the left of the carriage. They didn't reach the Holy Kingdom's territory yet, so the possibility of an ambush was quite low.

"Say, what do you think of the Holy Kingdom's situation?"

"Hmmm?"

Armant, to which the question was directed, took some time to answer. They had to speak louder, but not to the point of shouting.

"Yesterday, I spent a few hours to gather information on the Holy Kingdom, and I can't say they're in a good one. It is, or rather was, ruled by Calca Bessarez, the holy queen, and the refugee I asked said there were rumors from the south that she became the ruler thanks to Kelart Custodio, the high priestess. So the northern part and the southern part aren't in good terms. Do you remember the map?"

Erina nodded. Yesterday, they had bought an overall map of the human countries, showing the borders and towns. The Holy Kingdom was situated on the western side of the Slaine theocracy, and looked like a "U" turned on the side.

" He told me that the head of the paladin order, Remedios Custodio is incredibly… How can I put it… _Lacking in cognitive abilities._ Also, the whole population is trained in combat if the demi-humans from the Albion hills invade. I guess it wasn't enough."

Wilhelm, still looking for potential enemies, gave his thoughts.

"Even if the whole population is trained, it doesn't ensure a victory. Against a dragon, it doesn't matter if you have 100 soldiers or 10 000. You need an elite. I guess the Paladin order was not an elite enough."

Talking about elite troops reminisced Erina of Rida's own elite troops, the order of the Stargazers. Their numbers were quite low, with roughly 800 members, but their capacity in combat was unmatched by any other military group. She didn't know the abilities of the paladin order, but she was pretty sure they weren't better than the stargazers.

"Also, apparently this is not something that was orchestrated by the demi-humans. A lot of refugees escaped from the norther part when it was being conquered. The whole northern part is at the hands of the demons and demi-humans, and they could do next to nothing to stop their advance. Be it soldier or paladin, they were powerless before the demons and their leader, Jaldabaoth."

Something clicked in Erina's mind.

"Wait, Jaldabaoth? Isn't that the name of the demon that attacked the capital some time ago? Before the sorcerer king conquered E-rantel?"

Armant checked the string of his crossbow to make sure it wasn't loose, then answered.

"That's what I thought too. Jaldabaoth, Momon and Nabe, the Sorcerer King, and that vampire? What was her name again? Honop... Honopenu… Honopenui? Anyway, a lot of powerful people appear lately."

He didn't say that there was a possibility that all was tied, but it was strongly suggested. Speaking ill of the undead king which was inside the cart they followed could very well mean their death if he overheard them and got offended.

As there was nothing more to be said, they resumed the watch, carefully scanning the surroundings. The next morning, when the sun raised, they noticed the sea to the right of the carriage. And it was a fascinating sight.

Rida was primarily a mountainous country, and while there were a few lakes, land was always in sight. It was the first time the three humans following the carriage saw such an extended surface of water. The horizon was so far it was hard to differentiate the water from the sky, further strengthening the feeling of gigantism this sight inspired. The yellow light of the sun reflected on the calm water soothed her mind.

The air also smelled differently. There was a faint wet smell to it, and from time to time birds could be seen plunging into the water. On the other side of the carriage, the mountains had been replaced by gentle hills.

From this moment, it took another full day for the carriage to finally reach the army of the northern Holy Kingdom.

But "army" was not really the right word for it. Neither could the place they used as a HQ be called a "protective building". Erina knew that the north had fallen to the beastmen, but she initially thought they would retain a few castles, at least one, to resist the invader.

Instead, what welcomed them was the entrance to a cave. There were two impressive lines of paladins who formed a path for the sorcerer king to walk on. Wilhelm, as a former knight, could see that despite the adversity they maintained their equipment. When walking inside the cave to follow the paladin leading the way to the leader, the rest of the people living here was enough to tell him the state of the so-called "army".

The paladins maintained their equipment and could be seen practicing, proof of good soldiers. But the rest… The surviving members of the regular army had stains all over their uniforms, spots of rust and dried blood could be seen on their weapon and it was even worse for the civilians who seemed to be clueless as to what to do and wandered aimlessly.

Following Ainz Ooal Gown, the individual they were tasked to protect, they arrived at a slightly more decorated place. Two magical lanterns lit a room closed with a curtain, and a luxurious rug was placed on the ground to retain at least a bit of dignity. As they approached, two people that were shouting at each other calmed down, and one of them opened the curtain for the undead king to enter, followed by Neia Baraja, the squire.

Erina, Wilhelm and Armant stayed outside, but the piece of cloth could do little to prevent the voices inside to be heard. From what the mage heard, the resistance army was clueless as to what to do. They didn't know where to attack. They didn't know how to secure a large amount of food for the next winter (if they survived until that time). They didn't think about hiding their traces, so it was likely the beastmen knew already of this cave.

It seemed all the competent strategists died already in the northern part. With that information, the undead king proposed the only sensible option: attack directly one of the prisoners camp the population was being detained in, in order to obtain supplies and more men to fight with.

The holy kingdom's resistance army leader, Remedios Custodio, seemed to understand at least this part, and quickly agreed. The sorcerer king then announced his leave, while Neia stayed to act as the undead king's eyes.

The three adventurers had been provided a simple bedding just outside the sorcerer king's room, and they took turns to guard the entrance, much at the delight of the lone Paladin who was tasked with the same thing, terrified of staying so close to such a powerful undead.

* * *

The next day, the whole resistance army set forward to one of the camps, with Ainz and his company tagging along. It took a few hours to reach the place.

While the terrain was uneven and could provide some form of cover, the paladins, priests and regular soldiers walked in a straight line as subtlety and sneaking operations weren't their specialty by far.

They were quickly spotted by the guards on the wall surrounding the camp who rang the alarm bells, setting the whole camp into a feverish activity.

Erina couldn't see the enemies precisely because of the distance, but Armant mumbled something, and squinted his eyes to look at the watchtowers.

"Demi-human, confirmed. They look like…Goats? They only have rudimentary spears as equipment, so it shouldn't be hard…"

Neia who had used her heightened vision to look too added:

"You shouldn't be underestimating them, they're bafolk. They mostly live in mountainous regions, and they can climb nearly every surface. My father also told me that slashing swords need to be cleaned each time one is killed, because their fur can tangle into the blade and dull it very quickly."

Thanking the young squire for the information, Wilhelm decided that it wouldn't be a problem for them. Erina was a spellcaster, a protection would need an enchantment to be useful. Armant's crossbow was more than able to pierce tough leather, and his axe inflicted less wide but deeper wounds than a sword. He would still need to be careful, but it shouldn't be a problem.

The resistance army dismounted and summoned angels, who quickly killed the sentries. Then, the paladins raised their shields to protect the ones manning the battering rams. The leader Remedios stabbed a banner into the ground, and roared a few motivating words. The army roared back. Their morale was at the highest.

All seemed to go in the resistance's army favor, until a bafolk climbed a tower, and roared.

"IF YOU KEEP YOUR ATTACK, THE GIRL DIES!"

In his hands, a little human girl, not even ten years old was taken as a hostage, a knife directed at her throat. The paladins lost their momentum, as they hesitated. Immediately, the beastman understood and pressured them.

"BACK! BACK AWAY!"

Remedios shouted at the paladins to retreat, and the angels flew back too. While they seemed to shout at each other, Ainz signaled to Neia, Erina, Wilhelm and Armant to follow him.

"This is stupid… She's sacrificing them all because she can't accept to let one die… There's no justice whatsoever…"

At Armant's comment, the warden answered.

"On the contrary, don't you think she represents the highest form of justice? Not wanting to let even one die? While I agree that it isn't a smart or practical decision, on the theoretical level I'd say she's the paragon of justice. Well, human justice, at least."

The prince nodded. As the future heir to the throne, he was of course ready to sacrifice the minority if it meant protecting the majority. But that Remedios woman was dumb as a rock, and she only followed her instincts. But her idea of justice was ideal and pure, her actions showed it, and in itself this way of thinking was a strength.

Then, the beastman decapitated the little girl. The paladins could only stare with hatred and disgust.

"HOW DARE YOU!"

Not only she didn't save the child, her indecision caused the girl's death, and Remedios's whole body screamed vengeance. In the beastman's hands, a second child appeared, this time a young boy.

"The longer you stay here, the more children will die!"

And once again, the captain Remedios Custodio showed that she was powerless. The sorcerer king sighed, and took action. Erina wondered why did an undead need to sigh, a reaction that was exclusive to the living's conditions, but she quickly forgot about it. She was a magic caster, and she was excited to see another really powerful one at work.

"I'll handle this…"

The undead approached the gate. Of course, the beastman tried to make him back off, but using the living as a hostage against the undead was a bad move.

 **[Widen magic: Fireball]**

From the sorcerer king's extended hand, a fire ball shot out and engulfed the whole tower the beastman was in. Excited to see such a magical prowess, Erina didn't hear the second incantation but the gate that was a bit damaged was blown to smithereens. The bafolk who tried to barricade behind it were blown away too.

"I believe you should be able to attack the camp now, paladins."

Remedios was infuriated about her lack of power, infuriated that an undead gave her orders. Her mind (which didn't work really fast usually) had stopped working, and she was fixated on letting out the infinite anger inside her.

"CHARGE!"

The paladins charged through the breach. The only recognition Ainz got was a small head nod from Gustavo, the captain's aid. As they looked the resistance's army back, the undead king spoke to the humans around him.

"I believe you should be part of the assault too. I need someone inside to be my eyes and ears."

Neia immediately answered.

"But your majesty, we can't possibly leave you undefended!"

"Oh, do not worry. Neia Baraja, you will stay at my side, and I need something done. While I doubt you will find anything noteworthy, I would ask Wolf Fang to search for any documents that might give us Jaldabaoth's plans, or his location."

As the employed, they had no choice but to accept the order.

"It shall be done, your majesty. Erina, Armant, let's go."

As they ran in the prison camp's direction, Ainz started speaking with Neia, but Erina was too far to hear.

* * *

Inside the camp, there was a one-sided massacre of beastmen. The paladins were professionally trained soldiers, equipped with full plate armors and able to cast buffs on themselves and their comrades. On top of that, the never ending supply of angels summoned by the priests was nearly invincible against the beastmen. All they had was a spear or a rudimentary weapon, and they didn't seem to have any training whatsoever. After all, they only were prison guards. They could beat down an insurrection, but they could do nothing against trained soldiers.

And as the sorcerer king showed that taking hostages wouldn't work anymore, the beastmen could only rely on themselves.

The immediate vicinity around the gate had been already cleared by the paladins, but the fights continued in the other parts of the camp. On the left, Erina, Wilhelm and Armant took a path that led to a small skirmish. There, the bafolk had retreated to what looked like a guard post. A small wooden wall surrounded a wooden tower. On top of the wall, the beastmen poked every paladin that tried to approach. With their shining armors and flashy spells, the paladins were the main target for the beastmen archers, and no one tried to shoot at the adventurers approaching.

With no one interfering, Wilhelm raised his crossbow, and calmly shot the archers one by one. The archers dead, the paladins then brought a battering ram, crashed the wooden gate and rushed inside to massacre the beastmen.

"They won't need our help, let's go elsewhere. Look there, it must be the chief."

Armant pointed in a direction, and there an armored beastman was fighting with Remedios. But, even if he wasn't as useless in combat like the other bafolk, it wouldn't be accurate to say he was fighting. Rather, he desperately defended himself, barely able to keep up with the woman's pace. He then tried to run away.

They ran in this direction, but the bafolk didn't last much longer. He tripped, fell on the ground, and Remedios's holy sword pierced his neck, sending him to the afterlife. The paladin then looked around. She looked like an animal, ready to pounce at any enemy in her field of vision. Her helmet had fallen, and she gritted her teeth.

She didn't even acknowledge the adventurers when they came near her, instead, she roared and chased after a bafolk who peeked from inside a house, trying to hide. His cry of terror didn't help much, as she broke the door with a kick, and proceeded to skewer him.

"Let's just continue, she won't need our help either."

A little uneasy at the sight of such an _animal_ , they went forward, looking for any location of interest. Nearly all the bafolk had been already killed by the paladins, and they only had to execute one that was bleeding out. It was not that they sympathized for them, far from it in fact. These beastmen killed humans to eat them, and that horrified Erina. All she wanted was to kill them up to the last one too, but she felt like the likes of Remedios lost their humanity in their need of vengeance.

A little further, they found a metallic cage, with humans inside. They were dirty and skinny, with only a few pieces of cloth to cover them. Men, women, children, but no older people, she noted. They all looked at her with pleading eyes, begging to be released from the hell they had went through.

Wilhelm destroyed the flimsy lock, and let Erina open the gate. The prisoners just looked at the exit, unable to even imagine that they were finally released. The mage smiled at them.

"We three are adventurers, we are with the army of the Holy Kingdom. There are priests outside the camp to heal you, and the beastmen are all dead."

Still a little dazed, they left. The last one to leave, a middle-aged woman stopped near her.

"I… I just can't thank you enough. What we lived here…"

She grabbed Erina's arms in a firm lock.

"Demons! They… Skinned us alive! Then healed! Then skinned again… I wouldn't wish that even for the beastmen… The six be praised…"

She released the mage, and slowly made her way to the exit of the camp. Meanwhile, Wolf Fang set forward to the next cage, and Armant raised a problematic concern.

"Wait, demons? She wasn't speaking about the beastmen, does that mean that Jaldabaoth has helpers?"

Erina took some time to think, then answered.

"Well, I'm not that versed into demonology, but usually powerful demons have minions. But I don't know much more than that. For all we know, maybe he has four or five servants, or a horde of them…"

She didn't know anymore on the subject, and the two men couldn't blame her for that. Demons were dangerous beings, and dealing with them was treated with the same harshness than dealing with the undead. Demonists were systematically hunted by the king's spy organisation, and the few that escaped their eyes weren't powerful enough to threaten the country. At most, they would be able to summon an imp, that could be killed by any soldier.

Once again, the next cage was opened, and the prisoners ran towards the exit. The trio could have asked them, but it was probably too fresh in the memories. And besides, the Holy kingdom's army member would ask them later, and they would probably do a better job at it.

There were a few more cages, but paladins were already working on breaking the locks, so the adventurers could look for what the sorcerer king asked them.

The camp was comprised of a five wooden buildings, cages, and the guards post, surrounded by the wooden wall and a few towers. Three of the houses were burning, so they could only search the two remaining.

The first one was seemed to be a barn, but the paladins stayed outside, looking confused. As they approached, one of the paladins stopped them in their tracks.

"Hey, you're with the skel… Ainz Ooal Gown, are you not?"

His voice seeped with disdain when pronouncing the undead king's name.

"Don't go in there… Three of us tried to enter, and we haven't heard anything for a few minutes now… three others entered moments before you came, and we haven't heard about them too…"

He seemed to be at loss for a moment but kept on talking without Erina answering.

"Wait, you're adventurers, right? You should be able to deal with that."

Honestly, Erina, Wilhelm and Armant were surprised at such a cowardly behaviour from paladins. Even more at the proposal to help. It was a fact that there was a great rivalry between the army and the adventurers in the holy kingdom. The members of the army, even more the paladins, considered adventurers as nothing more than mercenaries, who resorted to dirty tricks to obtain money and hedonistic rewards for their personal gain. Meanwhile, the adventurers considered the paladins as toy soldiers who were only good at showing off in their shiny armors.

And both opinions weren't that wrong. The adventurers DID offer their services for money and fame, but their contribution to the nation's security was great. On the other side, the paladins DID show off in order to recruit more squires and adhere to their code of conduct, but their skills during a fight weren't to be underestimated.

For those reasons, it was odd that such a prideful order of warriors would ask for the help of adventurers, and even odder when considering those adventurers were employed by an undead, worst enemy of the paladins. But this was one of the places they had to search, so Erina quickly made up her mind.

"Well, let's do it then. Wilhelm, to the front, Armant behind, I'll take the rear."

The warden looked inside the open doors of the barn, but it was strangely dark. Despite the sunny weather, the light only reached a few meters inside, leaving the rest on total darkness. Even his vampiric vision which allowed to see in the dark didn't help much. Shrugging off a feeling of anxiousness, he entered the barn, followed by his teammates.

Outside, the paladin who talked to them looked at their backs, and once they got swallowed by the darkness, he made a hand signal. From behind a pile of crates, Remedios appeared and approached the paladin.

"Captain, are you sure that's the right thing to do?"

The woman glanced at the barn, then answered in a disdainful tone.

"They accepted to get employed by an undead, they do not deserve any consideration whatsoever. But we need to know what they're capable of, to use the skeleton correctly. I wouldn't want it to be saved in extremis because we gave too much support or anything."

Even with this answer, the paladin wasn't sure. He swore an oath to the holy queen to protect the country from any threat, but his education also told him that sending other humans as guinea pigs was not a thing that served justice. He totally accepted the idea of killing the sorcerer king because he was an undead and knew that he (or anyone in the nation he knew) wouldn't be able to fight him. The only way was to make him fight Jaldabaoth. If he got killed by the demon, then they would kill the weakened fiend, and they would kill the weakened skeleton if he killed the demon. Finally, the paladin decided to accept captain Custodio's orders and went to free the remaining captives of the camp.

* * *

"Here!"

Hearing the warden's voice, Erina headed to his location. When first entering the barn, they were surprised at the fact that there was nothing out of the ordinary. A few empty cages on the side, some spots of blood, but no corpse, be it beastman, paladin or civilian. Helped by Erina who conjured a sphere of light, they searched the whole barn for anything interesting.

Erina arrived a few seconds after Armant and noticed a trapdoor on the ground. Wilhelm had already opened it and tried to look inside. But just as the rest, an unnatural darkness prevented from seeing more than a few meters ahead.

At Erina's hand signal, Wilhelm moved aside and she cast **[Fire bolt].** She didn't spot any enemy, but the bolt of fire illuminated a stairway that lead underground. Once again, Wilhelm took the lead and entered cautiously. There could be a trap, but he was the most armored out of the three. Any physical attack would likely be stopped by the armor, and any magic would be repelled by the cape. And besides, Armant who was a specialist in engineering could spot them, but his skills were rendered useless in this darkness.

And thanks to this decision, a bolt was deflected by Wilhelm's armor. More startled than injured, Wilhelm advanced even slower, shield in front of him. But fortunately, there was no other trap and they arrived in a larger room. Three door on each wall lead to unknown locations, so they took arbitrarily the door on the right.

The room they found themselves in was just full of crates, from the ground to the ceiling, leaving little to no space to move. Wilhelm opened one of the crates out of curiosity.

"What's that?..."

He took out what seemed to be a piece of leather. Or something else? It was hard to tell, with the obscurity. He gave one to Erina who had cast a light some time ago already. Erina studied it quickly, and her conclusion was that it was unprocessed leather. But why would beastmen need that much leather, that she had no idea. She smelled it, bit a small part, but she just couldn't make out what it was made of or why it was there.

Then she remembered what the captive had said.

" _Demons! They… Skinned us alive! Then healed! Then skinned again…"_

When she realized what was the leather made of, she immediately dropped it and coughed, trying to get rid of the taste. Alarmed, Armant wanted to help her but…

"Don't touch that! That's human skin! They made it into leather!"

He dropped the piece he was about to smell too, disgusted.

"Let's just get out of here."

Wanting to get out of the room, they accepted Wilhelm's proposition and closed the door firmly behind them. Still a bit pale, Erina took a gourd of water from the bag of cleaned her mouth of any aftertaste. Her reaction was understandable, after all it was a fact that if humans consumed human meat, various diseases both physical and mental could kill a person or make it crazy. Up to this day, the reason was unknown, and she didn't want to catch anything. The two men did the same just after.

When they were done, they opened the door to the central room. There, four beds, seemingly made out of metal, with chains and handcuffs on the corners. The ground was splattered with red stains, and in a corner a small table with all sorts of metallic tools.

"I can already imagine what was this room for, let's just search it quickly."

After a quick search which provided no results, the went into the last room. There, rows and rows of skin were put to be dried on ropes, and the metallic smell of blood permeated the atmosphere. Erina had to cast **[Air bubble]** so she and Armant could breathe properly. Making sure to avoid touching anything, they searched the room but there was something interesting this time. In the back, in a small alcove, a black cylindrical object was emitting mana.

The mage quickly analysed it, and detecting no traps or harmful magic, she grabbed it. Nothing happened, but the oppressive darkness suddenly disappeared. This seemed to be the item that was creating this aura. With the dark atmosphere gone, they could now search the place properly.

And they didn't have to search for long, because in the alcove, Armant found a rolled scroll. He opened it, but he couldn't understand anything. There was something written, but he couldn't even recognize the letters.

"Erina, what's that?"

The mage looked at the inscription too, but to no avail.

"Unreadable. I guess this must be written in demonic language, but apart from that I have no clue. We should bring that to the sorcerer king. Also, the paladin told us that at least six of them should be here, but there's no corpse. And given that no one attacked us, there's no monster either…"

There was a short moment of silence, as the three of them thought over the matter. Wilhelm then broke the silence.

"What if… There were no corpses in the first place? Asking us for help was already suspicious enough, don't you think they're hiding something?"

"You're thinking of something?"

At Armant's inquiry, the warden took some more time to think before answering.

"I can't be sure of what or why. Frankly, apart from the trap when first coming here, there was no danger. Maybe it's a monster specialized in hiding?"

Erina nodded negatively, she didn't detect any magic being active, and Armant confirmed that he didn't see any enemy in hiding.

"Then I have no idea. One thing we have to remember though, is that they're hiding something from us. And considering their alignment, I wouldn't be surprised if it involved hurting the sorcerer king. Let's go back."

The three then walked back to the exit. Outside, Remedios Custodio was waiting for them, along with a few paladins.

"Have you found something?"

Now cautious about her, Erina answered carefully.

"We found the item that created this dark aura and intend to give it to the sorcerer king. He has tasked us to give him anything related to Jaldabaoth, and I believe this item is one. Also, this is the facility where they skinned the prisoners. You should just burn it down."

The stubborn woman extended her hand.

"We'll burn it down but you will give me that item, our priests shall analyse it."

"By order of the sorcerer king, I cannot."

The captain walked forward aggressively.

"Our priests are more than able to-"

"Am I to say to the sorcerer king you took an item by force when he asked us to bring it to him?"

She stopped in her tracks. Yes, she wanted more than anything to kill the undead monstrosity, but she was at least smart enough to recognize the obvious difference in power. She grunted before walking away. The paladins around looked at them with a scornful gaze, before following their leader.

Frankly, Erina could understand her decision, and her employer had not been Ainz Ooal Gown, she would have passed it to them happily.

They wanted to search through the last wooden house, but it had been put to the fire while they were inside. The guards post was burning too.

"Well, they're hell-bent on purifying by fire here. We have nothing to do here, let's go hand our findings to the skeleton."

Both men agreed, and the made their way to the outside of the camp.

* * *

Just after hearing the report from the three adventurers, Ainz was holding in his hand the object that seemingly projected the veil of darkness in the barn.

' _A box of eternal shadows, huh? A gacha item, but not rare at all, I have quite a few in my inventory. But, what was Demiurge's plan here? I can't see the sheeps he told me he's skinning for Nazarick's scroll crafting, so this prisoner camp must be something else, but for what? I never told him to invade the Holy Kingdom, did I? There's also the matter of this mysterious scroll. I could use an item to read it, but the mana cost would be too great, and I need to be ready just in case I have to "fight" Demiurge. Or should I say, Jaldabaoth. *sigh* , this holiday in the Holy Kingdom is turning almost as tiring as ruling the sorcerous kingdom. But now what? They obviously expect a smart answer from me, something that Ainz Ooal Gown could deduct just from seeing a common gacha item and a page they can't read. Hello? Ainz Ooal Gown? Could you tell me what to do? *sigh* '_

After his internal monologue, Ainz Ooal Gown decided to take the intelligent decision of postponing his problems for later. Looking away from the page he had tried to read, he told his conclusion to the four humans around him.

"I could read this page, but it would be too costly in mana. And you do not have to worry about this item. Let's go discuss what we will do now with the Northern Resistance's army leaders."

Followed by the adventurers and the squire, he noticed Neia had an odd expression on her face.

"What is it, Neia Baraja? Did you expect me to find Jaldabaoth immediately from these items?"

The young squire didn't really know how to answer.

"N..No? Yes, I believed it so, your majesty."

He chuckled quietly.

"Haha,ha I am but a simple being, I don't think anyone would have been able to pinpoint his position just from these items without the right items. Well, maybe a friend of mine could have."

The squire couldn't believe her ears. The sorcerer king, the most powerful and compassionate being she knew of, just called itself a "simple being". Ainz Ooal Gown was anything but a simple being and it impressed her that such a great man would call itself like that. Her impression of the sorcerer king rose even higher.

On the other side, while Wilhelm was puzzled as well, Armant and Erina quickly understood his goal. Having received a royal education, they knew that lowering oneself was a good way to appeal to the masses. But one ought to avoid doing it too often, or else one would lose gradually his authority. Rather than impressing the prince and princess, Ainz Ooal Gown's craftiness rose up a notch in their mind.

But there was another thing that caught Erina's attention. _A friend of his?_ Did that mean that the being she judged to be on par with the legendary dragon lords had equally powerful allies? That was a scary thing to imagine.

* * *

It took one or two more hours of arguing to finally decide of the next course of action. The food they had hoped to gain from the camp was scarce because of the fact that the demi-humans shipped goods regularly from a small nearby city.

Of course, they could attack the shipment itself, but that would attract unwanted attention, the last thing the relatively small northern liberation army wanted. Decision was then made to attack the city itself.

In a few hours of travel, they reached the mentioned city despite the tiredness of the new formed militia. But the paladins weren't monsters, they wouldn't make the regular militia fight. All they had to do was wave their weapons, shout, and generally make the shabby army look more imposing than it was to the opponent.

Erina had her doubts about why captain Custodio insisted so much to take this city. It was a small one, definitely a place unworthy of strategical advantage. Even Armant (who was trained in strategical warfare, contrary to Erina) said her that the only possible positive thing to gain here was food.

But the stubborn woman had dismissed even Ainz Ooal Gown's advice, so there was definitely something else. What? She didn't know. But her doubts about Remedios hiding something to them only increased.

With Ainz the undead, the crafty tyrant on one side, and Remedios Custodio and her paladins on the other side, the three adventurers could only trust each other, and no one else.

The battle began just like last time.

Except the bafolk here were much better trained. They were better equipped too, and sometimes an angel would disappear in a cloud of blinding light.

Both sides were battling fiercely at the portcullis, but eventually the paladins destroyed the gate and a great clamour was heard, combining the human's war shouts and the bafolk's anxious cries. Even the cauldrons of boiling water did not slow down the paladins, protected by magic.

Erina had to give it to them, despite their limited resources, the paladins drew every bit of strength and tactical advantage they could. She was starting to feel a bit less dubious about them, when she heard Armant mutter at her side.

"Fools…"

In a great clamour, the paladins retreated quickly. Just like last time, a bafolk was holding a human child in his arms, a knife directed at his throat.

"And just like last time, they lose their momentum, and leave the enemy dictate the flow of battle. They're nothing more than walking piles of muscles. Not a single one of them has a functioning brain."

Even Erina was surprised at such a display of contempt from her brother.

"I find you a bit harsh, Armant."

He looked with an exasperated glare at the paladins running back into their direction.

"Like I said previously, there's no justice at all. That Remedios may say she's doesn't want to sacrifice even a single human but that's wrong, she's condemning the rest of the population because she's unable to think differently. She's as dumb as a rock."

"While I wouldn't have used such harsh words, I cannot help but agree with what the young man said…"

Even the sorcerer king agreed with Armant. The prince thanked the skeleton with a small bow, but Ainz Ooal Gown wasn't finished talking.

"I guess I will have to do it myself. I have the same task as in the camp for you three adventurers, find anything that can help us find Jaldabaoth's location, or anything about him. I do not want the paladins meddling in all of this, so you should be able to search through all the important buildings like the lord's castle and such."

After a small talk with the leaders of the paladins, Ainz approached the gate, followed by Neia. Wilhelm, Armant and Erina stayed behind. Seeing the skeleton disintegrate the gate in a single spell, she couldn't help but to be jealous. Such awesome magical powers!

As she stayed behind, she couldn't see, but the bafolk at the gate seemed to have been dealt with quickly as nothing could be heard anymore.

After a minute or so, they decided to enter too. But, they felt terror. A primitive terror. One that recalled how insignificant mankind was in front of all their opponents. This couldn't be a natural terror.

Erina had to summon all her mental strength just to avoid running out of the city screaming, waving her arms. Wilhelm and Armant were paralyzed too. In a small detached part of her brain, she had deduced the sorcerer king had used a spell to inspire such fear, so she decided to use a spell to counter it.

 **[Flaming passion]**

A wave of warmth passed over her, warming her up and clearing her mind. This spell of the pyromancy repertoire was usually cast to increase the user's sensibility to positive feeling, and was known as one of the spells that was proposed to couples during their wedding night. And thanks to it, her trust towards her teammates, her brotherly love towards her brother and her passion for magic had surpassed the feeling of fear. She quickly cast the spell on the two men who thanked her.

There wasn't much to see in the city, and from her position Erina could only see two points of interest. A big building in the middle of the city, in the direction the sorcerer king was walking, so there was no point to go there. The second point of interest was huge tower in the eastern part of the city. Well, it wasn't huge but compared to the height of the buildings surrounding it, it stood out a lot.

After all agreed to Erina's proposition, they made their way up to the tower. And once again, they were recalled the beastman's cruelty. Humans were nailed to wooden planks to form live barricades. Most of them weren't dead, and they would probably need more than physical healing once this battle will be over. The bafolk were a filthy race too, and trash littered the streets, along with a pungent smell of infected wounds and death.

Just as they reached a small tavern, something inside caught Erina's attention.

"I'll just check this place really quick…"

She then opened the door abruptly and entered inside. Wilhelm looked in her direction, puzzled. Why was she so quick to do it? Both men didn't get the chance to say "What" that she had already opened the door. He quickly ran inside too, followed by Armant.

Just like every building in the city, the tavern had the mark of the beastmen. Blood, splattering the walls. In a corner, on a chair, a human body was decomposing. They didn't see where Erina went, but they could hear her footsteps as she went deeper into the building.

They followed her until they reached a door that led to a courtyard. The few empty carriages here and there showed that it was a place for merchants to park their carriage as they stayed in the city. But it was a place that also was used to dry clothes, judging from the numerous ropes with clean clothes hanging. There, Erina was standing.

In the middle, watching into the abyss of a well. Only her feet could be seen, as the rest of the body was hidden by a large piece of white cloth, hanging from a string.

"Erina, what's happening? Are you alright?"

Seeing as she didn't answer, Wilhelm approached. He pushed the piece of cloth aside, and stopped in his tracks. She was facing him.

From her hands, fat electrical sparks poured out. Her eyes were glowing with the color of thunder, and the mana crystal atop her staff was lit too.

"E… Erina?"

He extended a hand, panicking a bit. What was happening?! Obviously, she wasn't in her normal state. He had never saw her casting a spell producing this effect. It simply could be that she didn't do so until now, but why did she seem so… Otherwordly?

"Step. BACK!"

She extended her hand too, but it was charged with mana, and once it made contact with Wilhelm's chest plate, he was sent flying away, along with electrical sparks that made him suffer. He crashed into a carriage and found himself entangled in drying clothes he was caught in during his flight.

Armant rushed to his side to help him free himself. He was bewildered as well. What was happening? It was in moments like these that he regretted not studying at least a little bit magic. Obviously, someone or something was meddling with her mind. But he was clueless as to who or how or why.

Now a little bit wary, he surveyed the surrounding to see anything that might come out of the ordinary. Meanwhile, Wilhelm stood up and looked intensively at the woman.

"Erina, what's happening?!"

For a moment, her eyes turned back to the familiar green color.

"… Wilhelm? What…"

She groaned out of pain, and caught her head with her hands. Louder and louder, she groaned.

"Get…Out…Of…My…He-"

Suddenly, she straightened her posture. No traces of her previous struggle were apparent. Once again, her eyes were had the light blue color of thunder.

"I'll be keeping this body for a while, warden."

And leaving no chance for the warden or Armant to answer, she raised her staff, brought it down, and disappeared in a streak of lightning.

Armant followed the electrical streak. She was on the roof of the tavern they were in. She muttered something, and a light green light enveloped her feet. Then, she jumped away from his sight.

"Wha…"

The prince had no clue as to what just happened.

* * *

 **Hello there,  
**

 **First, I'd like to say that it was really awkward for me to write this chapter. I wanted to follow the light novel's story line, but at the same time I wanted to put emphasis on what Erina, Wilhelm and Armant were doing. I didn't want to rewrite everything that was already written by Maruyama, so you surely have noticed that the parts where Ainz Ooal Gown is acting or is mentioned feel rushed. That's because there are some things that I can't just leave out, but at the same time I don't want to spend too much time to write these parts.**

 **Also, final exams are coming next month, so it might take me longer than a month to release the next chapter.**

 **Some people have been wondering as to why Erina's so OP in magic in comparison to the other humans. Well, don't worry, I have an explanation, but that will be for later chapters.**

 **Comments are really appreciated, and I answer to every PM, so don't hesitate to contact me if you have a question.**

 **Well, that wraps it up for now, so have a nice day/night everyone, and see you next time!**


	16. Chapter 15: One-man army

**Employed by the sorcerer king as bodyguards during his trip to the Holy Kingdom, Wolf Fang finds itself in a difficult situation. First, it's a camp of prisoners that is liberated. But with this army composed of nothing more than a few hundred paladins, priests and thousands of under-equipped, under-trained and under-fed soldiers they are supposed to take on a city. It's only with the sorcerer king's help that they finally succeed, adding to the list of his feats.**

 **As Ainz goes to free the city, Erina, Wilhelm and Armant get the order to investigate the other parts in order to find clues about Jaldabaoth.**

* * *

The signs of the beastman occupation were everywhere. Most of the buildings were intact, the beastmen had to live in them after all, but filth covered the streets and a permeating smell of blood and death assaulted the nose of the three adventurers.

While Wilhelm watched the front, Armant surveyed the surroundings, ensuring that no ambush would happen. But the possibility of an ambush was really, really low after the feeling of primal fear the sorcerer king had cast on the whole city. Still, one had to be careful. Enchantments to protect against mental effects existed, and spells too.

While the two men looked for physical threats, Erina scanned her surroundings on the immaterial level. Under her watchful glare, no spell would be cast undetected on them. They walked in the direction of the second building that seemed to be of interest in the city, a large tower. It wasn't particularly huge, barely higher than the wall protecting the city, but nothing else stood out.

When they reached an inn, something tugged at Erina's mind. She could feel mana being disturbed in the inn. It wasn't a lot, just a little more than what was needed for a first-tier spell, but she had to be sure.

"I'll just check this place really quick…"

Without waiting for an answer, she went inside and followed the feeling that grew stronger and stronger as she went deeper. She opened brutally a last door that led to a courtyard where clothes were being dried above parked carts and carriages. The middle of this place was a small well. Nothing in particular stood out about it. She scanned the area some more, but she realized the mana disturbance came from inside the well.

Leaning, she took a look. She was surprised at the water level, she could reach it if she extended her hand. There was nothing else to see but her reflection. She then raised an eyebrow out of curiosity. What caused her the mana disturbance here? And left to come back to the two men.

That was what should have happened. Instead, she was paralyzed. She tried to move her hands resting on the side of the well, but it was as if an immense pressure kept them in place. Then, to her shock, the reflection in the water spoke.

"I did say I chose you because you were worthy. Worthy of becoming my vessel. Don't you know about curses?"

Her own voice startled her, but then she remembered the only being that took her voice to speak. The set of items.

Of course, she knew about curses. She didn't know how to cast them or how to remove them, but they obeyed to the same laws of magic she knew so well and knew how to protect herself from them. She knew about cursed items, but the idea that the set might have been one never occurred to her. After all, why would someone take the time and efforts to put a curse on a set of items? Set items were very powerful, and even the most heinous villains knew their worth. Cursing items that improved the wearer's abilities so much and were so rare was just an unthinkable act.

"Yes, yes, a cursed set of items. Strange, isn't it?"

At her credulous face, the reflection in the well chuckled.

"I became a part of you the moment you decided to reassemble my other parts. Of course, I can read your mind as well. And I must say, you know quite a lot. Hmmm…"

She felt as if a knife was directly being jabbed into her brain, dissecting her memories. Classifying them. Analyzing them.

"Oh, even up to the seventh tier of magic? Impressive! The only mages who handled me for now were worthless, sub-par mages who could barely cast third tier spells… Even my creator, may he rest in peace, could cast up to the ninth tier. But I see secrets in your mind. Wild magic! My creator always wanted to learn this power. He repeatedly said that such a thing didn't exist on Yggdrasyl, and that it probably had something to do with xp…"

Yggdrasyl? Xp? Ninth tier? What was that thing talking about? Another sharp pain stopped her train of thoughts. The surroundings faded away from her field of vision, to become pitch black. Then the vertical puddle from where her reflection always spoke appeared. She wanted to move. To get away from it, but she was paralyzed. All she could do was watch helplessly as the reflection got out of the puddle, and gently pushed her in.

With her last sliver of will, she tried to fight back. But it was as if heavy weight has been attached to her limbs. She couldn't fight for long. In a last struggle, she regained control over her body for a short moment. In front of her, she could see Wilhelm on the ground, entangled in clothes and with bits of electric power running along his armor. Her extended hand still hot from the energy released proved that it was her doing. She wanted to apologize! Wilhelm was her most close friend, and never she would have thought of hurting him.

"…Wilhelm? What…"

Before she could finish her sentence, another mental knife was jabbed in her mind, torturing her.

"Get…Out…Of…My…He-"

But the pain was too much to bear to the woman. Eventually, the reflection pushed her all the way in the puddle, taking control.

* * *

The other side of the puddle was pitch black. The only source of light came from the puddle itself, which had a white glowing outer lining. She tried to hammer at the mirror using her hands, but it was like a solid castle wall. The only effect she gained was a small ripple on its surface.

"It's no use…"

From behind her, a male voice interrupted her. She turned to face the direction of the voice, but another one on her left was heard.

"So, you've been caught too…"

Another voice, on her right.

"Just like us, blinded by greed…"

A female voice this time.

"Just like us, trapped for eternity…"

Finally, they came into the light's range. At least fifteen or twenty forms. From male to female, from young to old, from human to beastman, there were all kinds of beings. She even saw a being with no definite form, who changed from humanoid to werebeast to dragonkin to forms she didn't recognize every few seconds.

One of them stepped forward. He was a tall man, wearing robes, a wand hanging at the belt.

"You've been captured by the set of the reckless one, didn't you? Looks like we have a newcomer, for eternity."

"What… What do you mean, for eternity?"

The weight on her limbs was slowly disappearing, and the lessened burden allowed her to look at the crowd surrounding her more precisely.

"Like us, you hoped to gain power from this set of items. Be it human, beastman or even heteromorph, we all got fooled by the curse inhabiting it. The soul in your body has been replaced by the curse, who will now use it to do whatever he wants…"

She grimaced. The idea of leaving your body unguarded to someone else had a perverted connotation, and she didn't like it. However, with this new information, she had to think of a solution. There's always a way to work things out with magic. That was a sentence her teachers always repeated, and now she understood why they said that. Be it by sheer power of intricate manipulation, there was always a backdoor to use.

"What have you tried already, to get out? What's this place?"

The man in front of her seemed surprised.

"Didn't lose hope yet, huh? Well, we were all like that at the beginning. We tried all the elements on the mirror, but nothing. The fire doesn't melt, there's no earth to use, wind doesn't cut, and water neither. Other attack spells are useless too, all we get is a ripple on its surface. Also, this place doesn't seem to have any limits. One of us decided to walk straight in a random direction, but we haven't seen him for only the gods know how long."

"And Soul magic? Or Wild magic? Have you tried?"

"We don't know how to use it…"

Well, that was certainly a useful information. Soul magic was a way for the caster to extract a soul's energy, to bend the world's rules by force. It was different from tier magic which used mana which was already present in everything. If one had to make a comparison, tier magic users change the settings of a world, while a wild magic user directly inputs new settings into the world.

Now, what would happen if Erina bend the rule locally, to force her soul back into her body? Not anything good, probably. Using someone else's soul and manipulating its own was a radically different thing. If the caster wasn't seriously focused, he could lose memories, lose the ability to move his limbs, or worse. Erina wasn't ready for that. She didn't want to risk everything on a small bet which wasn't even sure to work.

And she couldn't use the other imprisoned souls either. The life force residing in a soul was very unstable and dissipated the day after the person's death. Obviously, the souls here had died a long time ago.

That left her with the tier-magic system. Her mind worked at full speed, for her whole being was at stake. All she could do now was theorize a way out.

* * *

When Erina disappeared, all Armant could do was note the direction in which she had gone, hoping to find her back. And unsurprisingly, it was in the direction of the tower they had noticed previously. As soon as Wilhelm got up, they ran in the tower's direction without a word.

Even if she had not gone into the tower's direction, they would have followed her. It took precedence over the sorcerer king's orders.

Arriving at the tower, they realized it was an alchemist shop. Or, given its size, an alchemist emporium. Just beside the broken door hanged a half-destroyed symbol of a flask filled with a green liquid and a name above, _"Bottled wonders"._

The first floor consisted of the shop itself. But it had been looted by the beastmen a long time ago, and only a few empty bottles remained in the racks. The wooden furniture seemed to be well-made, showing the success this shop had before the invasion.

With no sign of Erina, they went up the floors to search for her. The second and third floor were the laboratories themselves. Multiple tables covered in alchemy glassware, cauldrons, and various tools. Despite the long duration of abandon, a herbal scent permeated the air and made it hard to breath for Armant.

The fourth floor was the administrative office. Sheets of paper covered the ground, and even the beastmen left the thick ledgers untouched in the bookshelves.

The fifth and final floor was the owner's office. The luxurious furniture and the wonderfully painted walls were spoiled by the bestial smell. After all, such a luxurious place had surely become the room of a high-ranked beastman. From up there, a large window offered a view of the whole city. It was unnaturally quiet, and the only noteworthy thing was the faint sound of a fight where the sorcerer king should be right now.

Did the sorcerer king summon an undead to fight for him? Did he have a helper they didn't see? Armant couldn't find a reason as to why the sorcerer king would fight in close-combat while he was a magic caster. It simply defeated the advantage of being a magic caster.

"What now?"

Wilhelm's voice stopped his train of thought.

"It's an alchemy shop, and we didn't see any storage room. If it's here, then it should be in the basement. If not, well, tough luck, we'll have to look for Erina elsewhere."

The warden nodded, and they made their way back to the ground floor. Behind the counter, an opened hatch led underground. They couldn't see where exactly, but the faint sound of an activity and mumbling was enough for them to be on guard.

Either they found Erina, either it was a beastman who barricaded himself. Armant first, looking for any traps, and Wilhelm behind, ready to protect Armant at any time. Fortunately, it was well lit with magic lights, and no traps activated.

At the end of the staircase, an opened reinforced metal door led to a storage room. The many claw marks on the door showed that the beastmen tried to open it many times, and the still red-hot metal near the handle showed that Erina succeeded where they didn't.

A place in the middle had been cleared of the many crates and containers in the room. Erina was standing near a circle made of melted metal and was chanting a spell.

As she heard them, she raised her head and smiled. However, the two men remained cautious. Her eyes still had an electric blue color, sign that she was being controlled.

"Ah, perfect, I needed at least one person to power the spell. You arrived at the best time."

Without saying anything, Wilhelm raised his shield and placed himself in the front. Armant looked a little worried but climbed on a big barrel to gain a better view of the place.

"You know, that girl is really smart. She knows a lot of things about magic, things that are very useful to me. But she knows also other things. For example, what about that woman you killed about two years ago, Armant?"

The prince looked visibly shaken. He was very fond of engineering, and his machines didn't always work properly. Two years ago, one of the maids of the royal castle had been killed because one of his machine broke. The poor woman died pierced by a metal tube. The fact was that the maid in particular was the one that had taken care of him when he was younger. She was kind of like a second mother. Compensation had been payed to the family, along with her grave, but this accident pained him greatly.

"Armant, don't listen to him!"

"And what about you, Wilhelm Capirossi? A warden? Really? You're nothing more than a monster who stayed alive thanks to her pity. Do you really think your family will welcome you, a vampire? Do you really think the undead will hold his part of the deal! Naïve!"

Even though Wilhelm knew it was the curse talking, not Erina herself, hearing that from her mouth dealt a huge blow on his confidence.

"SHUT UP YOU MONSTER!"

Armant's roared to steel himself and released a bolt towards his sister. However, she didn't move. The bolt grazed her arm, and she laughed.

"Can you hurt your sister like that, failed of a brother? You know you can shoot me, yet you still hesitate? Pathetic! I'll smash you two to pieces and use your souls to summon back my master! **[Thunder bolt]! [Wind grasp]!** "

Wilhelm raised his shield out of pure reflex to defend against the magical bolt, but Armant didn't react in time. The spell raised him in the air and sent him into a barrel on the side. The wood broke, and a thick green powder flew up in the air, filtering the already scarce light coming from the single light sphere near the ceiling.

Blinded by the cloud, Armant shot an entire clip as soon as he stabilized himself and got rewarded with a hiss of pain as the fifth bolt pierced her right arm. She dropped the magic staff she was holding and tried to get the bolt out, but it was stabbed deeply.

Despite the bravado of the personality inside her, she got wounded seriously as soon as the fight began. Wilhelm charged in her direction too and tackled her to the ground.

"Get out from…Me, you mongrel! I have no time to waste for weaklings like you!"

Even with all the anger in the world, the mage couldn't even hope to compete in a strength contest against Wilhelm. He grabbed her hand as she hammered furiously at his armor with the other and took out the ring with great difficulty.

As soon as the ring left her hand, a golden light enveloped her. Confused, Wilhelm tried to grasp her but it was as if he tried to catch a fish. His fingers slipped on the inexplicably fluid clothes, she slipped out of his grasp despite his efforts and ran to the exit, up the stairs.

He was faster than her and tried to tackle her again, but she slipped out once more. This time, she turned back and cast **[Mass sparks]** on him. The streaks of lightning connected to his body, and he felt pain. That meant one thing. She was using a very strong spell that bypassed the cape's protection.

A burned smell behind him confirmed that the cape was turning into ashes slowly but surely, and she was walking up the stairs as she maintained Wilhelm in place. Armant shot her, but the bolt got deflected by the golden light.

When she reached the top of the stairs, she stopped fueling the spell and ran away. Still shaking because of the current, Wilhelm lost consciousness and fell to the ground.

* * *

A slap to the face woke him up.

He opened his eyes and saw Armant preparing for another slap. He raised his arm and caught the arm about to hit him again.

"I'm woken up, stop it!"

"Ah, good. You were unconscious for a few minutes there, and I need you against her. I have no chance alone."

"Alright, give me a healing potion and let's get her!"

Armant looked away with an embarrassed face.

"Well, I can't… You know you're…"

"Ah yes, forgot about that. Let's hurry before the thing controlling her does something bad."

The prince nodded as Wilhelm retrieved his helmet and put it on. Originally, they thought that it would be hard to find her, but a fresh trail of blood going up the tower eased their worries. They found Erina in the highest room. This time, she didn't greet them but fastened her chanting.

 **[-to me and grant me my wish! I call upon the oath of the grim counsel and call the soul of my maker! Invest this body of flesh and come ba-]**

She never got the time to finish her incantation, because Wilhelm charged and tackled her to the ground once again. While she was still stunned, he swiftly took out the circlet around her head. The electric blue light in her eyes dimmed and flickered, like a dying fire. The color of her retina kept changing from green to blue, and she constantly groaned out of pain.

"I've been too long on this world! I won't disappear like that! You will fall with me! **[The soul of the dead be my fury! Their grief be my energy! They will bend to my will and destroy this town!]** "

And just like the last struggle of a moth near a flame, the blue light in her eyes vanished, leaving the familiar green color of weeds. She was still in a state of unrest and her panicked glare looked around madly, never setting on something more than half a second.

"Erina! It's alright, you're safe now!"

Wilhelm's powerful voice soothed a bit her panicked mind and she found the will to calm down, take a moment to settle down. Her quick breath slowed down, her heartbeat slowly retrieved a steady pace and blood stopped rushing in her veins.

Her first action as soon as Wilhelm freed her was to unfasten the [Belt of the reckless one]. Her pants came a little loose, but she didn't want to put on anything that would curse her ever again. She smiled to the warden.

"I'm back, Wilhelm."

He smiled back.

"Welcome back, Erina."

She was about to thank Armant too, but he wasn't looking at her. He was looking behind them with a fearful expression.

"What's…That…"

Turning back, her face turned into a horrified expression. The glass window had broken during the previous fight, and a translucent white sphere formed above the buildings of the city. Small white streaks came from the building to feed the sphere, making it bigger and bigger every second. And the energy emitted was no joke. Even Armant who wasn't a mage could feel the sheer power slowly building up.

But all hope wasn't lost. It was the personality inhabiting her who had cast that spell, using her knowledge of soul magic to do so. But the personality had discovered the workings of soul magic not a long time ago. It was likely that it started to study it the moment she had first put on the cursed ring. The other parts of the set were probably only necessary to imprison her soul.

Erina had a lifetime of experience with soul magic, she could see the rough edges of the spell, and its flaws. Basically, the souls used for the original spells were to be used to congregate and explode, destroying at least a whole district.

It wasn't possible to stop or undo the flow of souls, so the only thing she could do was to change location where the explosion would take place.

For a short moment, the thought of making it explode directly near the sorcerer king crossed her mind, but it was a bad idea. The sorcerer king was such an accomplished magic caster, there was no way he would not see that coming.

For now, there was a single place she could think of.

* * *

After carefully manipulating the magical energy saturating the air, she made the white sphere hover inside the tower, and then in the cellar. But time was cutting short. Really short.

The air seemed to tremble around the sphere, a high-pitched sound gained in intensity every second and the heat became unbearable.

Using all the speed buffs they could cast, it took half a minute to get out of the cellar. Ten seconds to reach the exit of the tower. Ten seconds to reach the end of the street. A few more to run behind the house opposing the tower.

And then it happened. For a split-second, it was as if the world stopped moving. And in that split second, she took the decision that would save their lives. Then, mayhem ensured.

A pillar of white flames instantly obliterated the base of the tower, sending fragments of stone around and making it crumble. The nearby houses turned into rubble in a matter of seconds as the shockwave reached them. But that was not the end.

All the materials in the cellar ignited too, adding a deadly but somehow beautiful effect to the explosion. A green flame roared up in the sky, overheated ingots of various metals became flew up in the air.

Then, everything fell back to the ground. A deadly rain of red-hot metal pierced through the roofs of the nearby building, putting them on fire. All the stored powders fell at different paces. Some rare furniture that survived the explosion added to the chaos when they fell. A thick grey cloud of dust covered the area, making it impossible to see past one's hands.

Erina waited a bit more before finally peeking behind the rest of the wall that saved them. She dispersed the cloud of dust with a wind spell before assessing the damages.

Nothing was left of the tower. Just a crater in the ground at least a few meters deep. The area around it that didn't take the full brunt of the explosion was totally messed up, deep gashes in the ground spewing smoke and debris still fuming.

Of the buildings around the former tower? Nothing was left except the base of each. She had had the good idea to jump to cover before the explosion, pulling the two others with her. At first, she wanted to conjure a magical protection as soon as she could but the explosion was so powerful she got stunned.

The two men looked to be safe, just stunned as well. She asked them if they were fine, but she couldn't even hear herself. Putting a hand to each ear, she was shocked when they came back with blood. The explosion had completely ruptured her eardrums, and now the only thing she could hear was a high-pitched humming. The two men were probably in the same situation.

It looked like a visit to the clerics would be necessary.

* * *

"You mean WHAT?"

Remedios's enraged shout caught the attention of all the people around her. The person she was talking to, one of the saved prisoners and also a native of the city repeated what he just said.

"The e-explosion was at…Where the biggest alchemist shop of the n-northern Holy Kingdom was…"

The poor lad was terrified and even Gustavo, the aid of Remedios could understand him. But he could also understand Remedios's rage.

Indeed, the explosion didn't go unnoticed. Or rather, it would be better to say that one would have to be blind and deaf to not notice it. And even without sight and hearing, the tremor of the explosion encompassed all the city and the area around it.

With that building gone, it was effectively the biggest stock of alchemical goods of the area that was gone, and that would have been a very important resource to obtain for the coming battles. The clerics didn't have infinite mana and couldn't summon angels indefinitely.

"Gustavo!"

"Yes?"

The aid immediately came to her side, ready to receive his orders.

"Go with thirty paladins to kill them. That was clearly a sabotage to reduce our effectiveness in combat, and I won't drag traitors with us!"

While a few paladins agreed to her righteous fervor, Gustavo and the majority were uneasy.

"Captain Custodio, I'm sorry but I can't agree. These adventurers are employed by the sorcerer king. Killing or hurting them in any manner will incur his wrath, and we cannot afford to have that right now."

The suggestion only made her angrier, but she had to agree with him. They couldn't do anything that might displease the undead king before he fought Jaldabaoth. Out of anger, she lashed out on the corpse of a beastman nearby and kicked it repeatedly.

A messenger nearby had to wait for her wrath to subdue, before announcing himself.

"Captain Custodio, I have a message from the third squad."

The woman nodded, the messenger came closer and spoke in hushed tones in her ear. And for the first time today she smiled, for it was a long time since she had received good news. The prince of the Holy Kingdom, Caspond Bessarez had been found in the city jail. He was malnourished and looked sick, but he was alive.

"Lead the way to him!"

* * *

Contrary to Erina's expectations, they stayed in the city afterwards. She had originally thought that they would join the army of the southern part and then repeal the beastmen.

It was presumptuous just to think about defeating Jaldabaoth after all what he did, but with Ainz Ooal Gown on their side they could focus on the battlefield properly. Instead, orders were given to erect barricades and repair the walls where they were damaged. The rescued blacksmiths used all the metal they could find to produce weapons, armors and tools. Trenches were even dug around the wall, not deep ones but they were filled with wooden spikes at the bottom.

All of this was ordered by the new commander, Caspond Bessarez, Casca's older brother. He outclassed Remedios Custodio by several ranks, and apparently decided to fight a defensive battle against Jaldabaoth's forces. But there was no way to win!

From Erina's point of view (Armant's and Wilhelm's too), there was no way the northern kingdom's army of less than ten thousand could win against an enemy that would outnumber them at least by a twofold. She realized why this decision was taken two days later, as she walked down the city.

While most of the army was at work, as the undead king's guard she had not been given anything to do. Wilhelm was helping to train the new recruits of the army so they would be able at least to defend themselves. Armant was on duty and followed the skeleton around to ensure his security. She doubted such a powerful being needed a bodyguard, but he insisted on it. And with nothing to do, she decided to take a walk in the city.

Because of the number of wounded, she could only receive light healing spells from the clerics, and her hearing was gradually recovering. She could now hear, but only muffled sounds.

She first went into an improvised market, where every looted item that had some kind of valor was sold. As the men worked, only the children, housewives and elderly walked around. Even with her reduced hearing, she noticed the rumors, the whispers, the heavy glares. A lot of people had something to say about her. She couldn't hear it properly, but it couldn't possibly be something positive.

Annoyed by the ambiance, she went back on her tracks up to the area where the tower had exploded. Be it by fear of explosions or superstition, a lot of people avoided that area. Her peace of mind in this silent area was interrupted when a rock hit her right arm. Quickly casting a magic shield, she turned around and prepared to fight but quickly released her control over her magical powers. There, four human girls. They seemed to be between fifteen and twenty, barely adults and wore dirty clothes.

Another rock was deflected by the shield and one of them spoke.

"Get out of here you monster! How could you accept a deal with an undead! You're even worse than a beastman! Whore! Bone-licker!..."

Her outrage fueled the excitation of the three other girls who showered Erina in even more insults and rocks. The mage decided to flee, no good would come out of fighting what was basically a group of stupid brats.

When she found a hiding spot in an abandoned house, she finally realized why the girls acted like this, and by extension why the northern army was entrenching the city for a siege battle.

For the inhabitants of the Holy Kingdom, there was a clear line between the humans, and other races. By collaborating with Ainz Ooal Gown, Erina, Wilhelm and Armant had fell in the "other races" category.

The same applied to Ainz Ooal Gown. Even if he was allied temporarily with the paladins, he remained an undead. He remained an "other race" and as such would never be considered an equal. He was considered more like a tool, a powerful tool that happened to have common goals. Knowing that, it was easy to imagine the rest of the plan.

They planned to make the sorcerer king fight the archdemon, and then finish the weakened enemy. Just like someone would use a tool and then throw it away. And frankly, Erina couldn't blame them for that. In their situation, she would have probably done the same. After all, why would someone pass on the opportunity to make two enemies kill each other?

As the skeleton was probably the only way for Wilhelm to turn back into a human, she decided to inform the king.

* * *

"…I cannot be certain your majesty, but I believe it is a strong possibility."

Sat in front of the kneeling mage, Ainz was very nervous.

' _That doesn't sound like something improbable. After all, it is a fact that I'm an undead, and they're paladins specialized in purging the undead. If I was in their boots, it would be my plan as well. But now, is this in Demiurge's plan? Does he really plan to fake my "death"? If it's the case, let's see what would happen. It's reasonable to think the Kingdom and the Theocracy would want to take E-rantel, but what about the emperor? Would he stay an ally? There's so much unknown variables! And there's also the fact that there's someone out there with at least one world item. But why? How would that help with the conquest? I need to ask Demiurge, but I can't ask him again to "explain to the others in a way they can understand"… Hmmm… Damn you Demiurge, if only you were just a little bit less zealous...'_

"Your majesty?"

Surprised by the woman's voice, Ainz realized he had stayed silent for a long moment.

"You need not to worry. I am aware of that, and it fits perfectly in my plan. However, I like the fact that you decided to inform me, what made you take this decision? After all, I am an undead."

She took a moment before answering, choosing her words carefully.

"Indeed, you are an undead, even though I would have great difficulties to compare your majesty to a lowly skeleton. But right now, I know no one else that can turn Wilhelm back into a human."

' _Ah, so she simply doesn't' have a choice? Well, I can't blame her, but it's still not very pleasing to hear that.'_

"Umu. Like I said, there's no worries to have. Jaldabaoth has something I want, and I shall obtain it. For that, his defeat is assured."

His words oozed with pride, and an insufferable selfishness, but she said nothing. Fighting an archdemon wasn't an easy feat. The last time she had heard of an archdemon was 12 years before she was born. A group of cultists had summoned one, and it destroyed an entire city. It took a lot of men to kill it, and even in death the archdemon wiped out three knightly orders.

Jaldabaoth called himself a demon king. Erina didn't know much about demon society, but he had to be stronger with archdemons with that title. And despite this fact, Ainz Ooal Gown was a being that could say with confidence "He's no match for me".

She decided to believe in the undead's words. But did she have another choice? Not really.

"As you see fit, your majesty. I wish you luck during the coming fight."

* * *

The beastmen arrived in no less than four days. First, the vanguard which surrounded the town, cutting every escape path. The relatively small northern kingdom army couldn't afford to attack them, so they waited. The day after, the main force arrived. Roughly forty thousand beastmen reinforced the vanguard, and the siege began.

For the first week, nothing happened. The two sides just glared at each other, humans from atop the walls and the beastmen from their camp. Then, two days later, the horns signalling the attack echoed in the city, calling every human possible to the fight.

Up in her room, she looked at the feverish activity as men, women, elders and even children went to the battlements. Slowly, the fervour in the streets quieted down to be replaced by the sounds of the battle.

The squire Neia Baraja had had to leave because of her orders, but Wolf Fang were employed by the sorcerer king, and as such couldn't be given orders. Instead, they stayed with the skeleton in the room, watching for any threat that might come to them.

She was anxious at the thought of the thousands of beastmen coming at them, but also reassured by the imposing sorcerer king's power. She more than her companions know how devastating magic could be, a few well-placed mages could turn the tide of a battle.

She hoped for a victory, but it would be presumptuous to think that less than ten thousand malnourished, under-equipped and for some non-trained humans could fight off more than forty thousand beastmen. A mere twenty minutes after the horns were rang, the first fleeing humans could be seen in the streets.

First, it was a lone soldier holding with his left hand the remains of his right arm.

Then, four men transporting a headless corpse. All wounded.

It looked like it was a massacre. At least from back there, all she saw was wounded soldiers with panicked expressions.

Just as she thought, it was impossible for the meager human army to fight off the beastmen, more numerous and better trained for the most part.

But as long as they stayed with the sorcerer King, they would be safe. At least that's what she believed. It was ironic to think that the bodyguards were kept safe by the one they were supposed to protect, but such was the reality of the situation.

As time passed, the clamor of the combat subsided, to be replaced by human screams of terror and bestial victory shouts.

Armant's anxious voice reached the sorcerer King.

"Your highness, I believe the northern army lost the battle. Shall we retreat?"

The undead answered in a genuinely curious voice.

"Tell me, do you believe I am one to flee from a battle?"

Armant immediately bowed apologetically.

"Please accept my apology, your majesty. It was presumptuous of me to even think about this possibility."

"No, no, it is alright. It is true that the situation is quite concerning, and I am allied with the Holy Kingdom. Letting them die here would be a stain on my name. But I also need to conserve mana. Follow me."

The undead left the room, followed by his human bodyguards. They left the luxurious inn they stayed in, before stopping in the middle of the street. He raised his hand and:

 **[Summon: Death Corp]**

From the sorcerer king's extended hand, a black ooze spread on the ground, before accumulating and forming humanoid forms of different size.

The first and most recognizable were what she assumed to be two death knights with huge two-handed swords and black armor in their usual rotten fashion.

Behind the two large-sized figures, ten human-sized skeletons clad in heavy armor and holding maces and round shields.

Five skeletons armed with bows and shortswords. They had no quiver but given the magical nature of their weapons it was safe to assume they didn't need one.

And finally, five skeletons clad in purple robes and holding staves.

Each and every piece of equipment was glowing in a different color, showing its magical nature.

"Form two groups with equal numbers."

At their summoner's orders, the twenty-two undead formed two groups of eleven.

"First group will go to the east gate of this city. There, adopt a defensive formation and kill all the beastmen you see. Do not kill or injure the humans there. Second group go to the beastmen's main camp. Kill everyone."

The skeletons groaned, probably to accept the orders, before splitting into opposite directions.

« Now we wait… »

* * *

*scruuuntch*

It was hard to explain, but for a beastman it was enough to describe the sound of a spiked mace bursting open the head of a human, like a rotten fruit.

Eljayah qui gonb looked with delight at the open skull in front of him like a gourmet judging the dish of a high-end restaurant.

He was a powerful beastman with the appareance of a bear, not powerful enough to be a general but enough to have his name recognized in the army. His upper body was protected by a thick enchanted leather armor, and his thigs were protected by steel plates.

' _Hmmm…It looks good, but there are still humans to kill. To the next.'_

On the walls of the town, a carnage was taking place. The paladins fought pretty well, but the majority of the humans were average at best and were nothing more than walking meat bags.

The only serious threat they had to fight was the mad-eyed archer who killed at least one hundred of them before she was surrounded. She looked delicious too, but such a high prize was left for the general.

He was about to kill his next victim when he heard a scream of terror.

Now, screams of terror were normal in this genocide, but the scream had a distinctive beastman tone.

Looking down the walls, he saw that a few surviving humans had rallied around a paladin. The ground around them was lit by a white light, probably the magic which allowed them to rally. But the scream of terror came from behind them.

There, a group of beastmen who originally tried to flank the human's defensive position was fleeing from a group of skeletons.

"What?"

The humans of this kingdom were known to be very religious. But why would the undead appear in one of their cities? Why would said undead make a shield wall in front of the humans, mercilessly massacring the beastmen trying to approach? And why would the humans only look at the undead, and not immediately purify them?

Eljayah decided to stop thinking and take action. The group of skeletons was an enemy, and he only needed to destroy them. Was he called Eljayah the skull-cracker, or was he not?

He came down the walls, only to see the fight was not like he expected it. The skeletons were reaping the life out of every beastman they could see at an astonishing rate.

The skeletons clad in armor repelled the brunt of the attack as if children pestered adults. They handled their mace expertly, every hit breaking a bone or a skull.

Behind them, three skeletons cast deadly magic, killing at least ten opponents with every fireball or cloud of poison.

Two archers sniped the flying beastmen who tried to attack from the air stayed even further.

And finally, at the front stayed death incarnate. A humongous skeleton clad in a black heavy armor, wielding a giant two-handed sword. Every swing snuffed the life out of a beastmen or two, and his maniacal laugh only added to the terror.

Eljayah walked up to one of the scarce beastman magic user nearby and whispered something into his ear.

Nodding in understanding, the shaman raised his hands and cast his magic.

 **[Ancestor's legacy] !**

Feeling the watchful eye of the ancestors over him, Eljayah felt like their power infused his whole body and strengthened every fiber of his being.

Drunk on the sudden surge of power, he walked to the front.

« WHAT ARE YOU ALL DOING? AFRAID OF A PACK OF BONES? YOU ARE A SHAME TO OUR GENERALS! LOOK AT ME AND KNOW THAT THE ONE WHO WILL DESTROY THESE SKELETONS IS ME, ELJAYAH THE SKULL-CRACKER! »

Surprised at this powerful roar coming from behind them, the surrounding beastmen stopped fighting and formed a ring.

Eljayah walked up to the middle and raised his mace at the biggest undead in front of him. The big skeleton stayed still for a moment, before walking up in the ring too.

The blessing he had received from the shaman didn't have only good sides. For example, he would have seen the obvious difference in power if he didn't receive it and would have made the wise decision to avoid the fight. But it was too late.

The skeleton took the initiative and launched a wipe horizontal sweep. Eljayah swiftly brought his mace to defend, but the skeleton was much stronger than he first thought, and the weight of the hit made him lose his balance.

The skeleton tried to press his advantage by attacking the downed beastman, but to everyone's surprise the beastman found himself on his feet, just as if someone dragged him up very quickly. That was thanks to the martial art he had used, [repositioning].

Focusing on the battle, he didn't notice that the cheering had stopped, only to be replaced by the eerie silence of the beastmen seeing their champion to the ground in one hit.

This time, he knew it would be unwise to let the opponent attack, so he charged with a war cry, aiming at the skeleton's head.

The two-handed sword met his mace as the attack was parried, but he pressed on and launched another hit on the gauntlet and used the [strengthening] martial art.

The only result was a loud « clang ».

Surprised, the beastman jumped away and looked at his mace. The only thing that was dented in the fight were the spikes of his mace!

His mind drunk on power finally sobered up, and he realized the power of his opponent. How was he supposed to destroy the undead when he couldn't even damage the armor he wore?

Regretting his actions, he focused once more on the undead, looking for any gaps in the armor.

The eye slits were too narrow for his mace, and the only undefended place left was the armpits.

Full of hope, he attacked once again but…

A gauntlet caught him by the throat.

Choking, he attacked relentlessly the hand that grabbed him, but only more "clang, clang, clang…" were heard as the mace hit the armor. He used his paws, his tried to bite, he tried to call for help, but all for naught.

Imperturbably, the skeleton brought his sword at the beastman's belly and stabbed. Slowly. Surely. Each second, a centimeter of metal got inside. The pain was unbearable.

Then, when the blade was all inside up to the hilt, the skeleton brought the beastman up in the air, and released his throat. And the torture resumed. Because of the beastman's own weight, the blade slowly cut his innards up, then stopped at the ribcage.

Like a child playing with a toy, the skeleton moved his sword up and down, until the ribcage couldn't support the weight and broke too. His screams of pain stopped when the blade reached the region of the heart, cutting important veins and arteries.

Despite it being already dead, the skeleton kept playing with the corpse, until he was bisected all the way up to the head by how own weight. All the beastmen watching were silent. The corpse fell on the ground, only held together by the flesh of the waist. The blood quickly formed a large stain. It was hard to believe that a single body could contain so much blood.

First, it was a wolf-like beastman that fled. Then another one. Then, the skeleton held his bloodied sword up in the air and laughed maniacally. It didn't even sound like a laugh, more like gravel being crushed. But they knew he was laughing.

They didn't know what to do. Should they advance, up to a certain death? Should they retreat and risk the commander's wrath? They could only wait for orders in this awkward stand-off.

Little did they know there was no one to give commands anymore.

* * *

Ainz looked at the aftermath of the battle. The enemies had been crushed on every front. The commanders dead. The main camp was in chaos. At first, he had only summoned twenty-two undead, but know at least two thousand zombie beastmen roamed the camp, summoned by the death lord's special abilities and added to the chaos.

Of his summons, only one undead bodyguard had died to the combined attack of thirty beastman mages and one particularly powerful snake-like beastman.

' _Two level sixty death lords, ten level fifty undead bodyguards, five level fifty cursed archers and five level fifty-five undead archmagi. I wonder if it wasn't a little bit overkill?'_

Usually, the death corp was used by middle-level players to stall minions while they focused on the boss. Ainz knew that the power level of this world was low, and by summoning these undead he hoped to find powerful opponents, to gain important information about them.

But nothing. His summons had swept clean every piece of resistance with little to no effort.

The beastman army had been defeated by him, and him alone. However, his joy was suppressed by the incredible mark of Remedios's disrespect from earlier.

"Time for me to talk some sense into that woman's head…"

With that declaration, he flew away from the battlefield in a regal manner.

* * *

 **Hello there, author here.**

 **First, I would like to apologize for the extremely long wait between the last chapter and this release. Like I said, I was very busy and couldn't find a lot of time to write.**

 **Secondly, I will adress to the people that are reading the vol13 currently being translated. You may have noticed that what I write is not what is written in the novel. That is because I decided to stop following the novel's plot to the letter. By that, I mean that I will still follow roughly the plot, but I will add some new things, change some others or remove completely what I don't like it.**

 **You may not like it, but it is a fact that I have reached the novel's plot, and I don't want to have to wait for the release of the next novel to write the next chapters. When I was writing the chapter and vol13 had not started to be translated yet, I realized how hard it is to write with no basis. It is a new challenge for me, and I hope I'll succeed in continuing the story in a way that will please you.**

 **With that said, I hope you liked what you read. Please don't hesitate to PM me if you have a question or a remark concerning my work. I welcome all constructive criticism.**

 **See you next publication!**


	17. Chapter 16: A message from home

The atmosphere in the tavern was quite silent. In fact, it was the whole of E-rantel which was quiet. But to say it was out of the ordinary was wrong. Ever since the Sorcerer King occupied the city, people were afraid of attracting the death knight's attention. Rowdy tavern customers. Housewives gossiping. Dogs barking at each other. No one wanted to be on the wrong side of the blade of a death knight.

But people were also getting accustomed to their presence. While they were very scary, it was true that crime had gone down a lot. The Sorcerer King had assured that everyone would receive the same punishment regardless of social status or race, but it was still hard to believe. Even the pickpockets, a common sight in every major city, had nearly disappeared.

It was in this calm but lacking in life that Erina, Wilhelm and Armant were eating in an inn. While eating, Erina closed her eyes and reminded herself of the events of the last days.

* * *

It was only a few days after the siege battle.

The perception of the sorcerer king was starting to shift in the population's eyes.

On one side, he was an undead, a being that hated all living things to the core and that they were taught to despise since birth. On the other side, without the sorcerer king the whole population would be dead by now.

That was the paradox that was confusing the surviving northern liberation army. It created an uneasy feeling in the city which added to the mourning of all the dead. Only a few were at peace. When walking in the streets, Erina experienced it first-hand.

People didn't say mean rumors about her and her companions anymore, but they wouldn't say anything either. Only a few reached out to her, Wilhelm and Armant to convey their thanks to the sorcerer king. He remained a being difficult to approach after all.

Neia Baraja, the squire assigned to the sorcerer king had changed a lot too. Killed during the battle despite all the enchanted gear she had been given, her resurrection seemed to have triggered something in her mind. She had become completely certain that "The sorcerer king was justice.". Deeply engrossed into her own world, she spoke to anyone who wanted about his greatness and a small cult had started to form.

To Erina, such an idea was absurd. If the only criteria for being just was personal power, then a adventurer turned to banditry could be said to be just. And she didn't forget that the sorcerer king was here for the demon maids. Once he would obtain them, he would leave this country alone against the demi-human threat.

It could be argued that the demi-humans were much less threatening now that they lost nearly half of their troops, but there was also the nobles of the southern part of the holy kingdom. The Holy queen was dead, and they would surely want a piece of the cake when deciding of a new ruler. The weakened northern kingdom would have no weight in the negotiations. Leaving the northern kingdom in such a state would be akin to leaving a person who had just been cured of a grave illness to a pack of rabid wolves.

There was also another fact. In decades, nobody noteworthy appeared. Then, suddenly Jaldabaoth, the sorcerer king, Momon and Nabe, the vampire killed by them, all these powerful people appeared at the same time. There was a possibility that the sorcerer king or Jaldabaoth was a puppet to the other. Or both of them to an even greater power.

For these reasons, she couldn't understand the blind faith Neia had put into the sorcerer king, but that was probably due to the fact that they received a different education. Neia had received a simple education while being a squire. Knowing how to read and write was already more than a lot of peasants and she attended to other classes, but it was still very basic. On the other side, Erina had received the education necessary to become a ruler. The art of negotiation, political deals and reading between the lines wasn't something that could be learned easily. It was also thanks to this education that she was more suspicious.

The whole population was now freed from the demi-humans, but a problem plagued the minds of the higher-ups. Where was Jaldabaoth and his demons? It was hard to believe he would not react to the killing of half his army. The answer came four days after the victory.

Erina had followed the sorcerer king to a meeting with the hierarchy from the Holy Kingdom. She was standing guard outside with another paladin, when she heard a big crash inside.

The paladin beside her quickly unlocked the doors, and once opened:

"Yeeeeaaarth!"

Remedios's war cry sounded as she charged at a newly appeared humongous figure.

"Get lost."

The figure spoke in a deep and powerful voice, then swatted the paladin aside with his weapon, cracking the wall she crashed on.

The silhouette was the color of the roaring blaze, his face was filled with wrath, his wings were red, and his burning arms held what looked to be a weapon. Because of the night, his silhouette stood out even more than it should have, striking shock and fear into the spectator's hearts. On closer inspection, Erina realized what he was holding was a lower human body in armour. Given the sleek appearance, it was likely the owner was a woman.

"Oh, I am terribly sorry. I did not intend to make the room dirty. It wouldn't have happened if that woman didn't charge at me."

The demon bowed, seemingly wanting to apologize. The worst was that it looked like he was sincerely apologizing.

"It seems her top half must have flown off somewhere. Well, I made good use of her body. She must be thanking me from the afterlife by now. Am I not a kind demon?

Remedios wailed in anguish as she tried to put back together the pieces of meat stuck on her, and the demon waved his arms like an opera conductor. His face smiled as he appreciated the moment.

"Aah, what a lovely sound. But where are my manners? I am the demon emperor Jaldabaoth, and I am here to fight with Ainz Ooal Gown. Or perhaps your highness Ainz Ooal Gown would be a better fitting expression to address yourself?"

"I trust a showdown would be fitting. No amount of weakling will change the results of the fight."

"Indeed, your highness Gown. I shall be waiting for you in the town square."

As he was about to leave, Remedios once again attacked. Her sword shined, full of holy power but simply bounced of the demon's thick hide.

"But… You're evil…"

On her face, incomprehension could be seen. Her holy blade should have been able to slice through anything as obviously evil as the demon. Yet, it didn't.

"I'm sorry, was that supposed to harm me? That was more like a prick."

From the hole in the wall, a head poked out, then a body. It was one Jaladaboth's demon maids. The apparition seemed to surprise the sorcerer king for a moment, but he quickly resumed his regal bearing. He looked at the demon's back who was flying away with the demon maids in tow, then at the people in the room.

"I will join the town square in about half an hour. Jaldabaoth ought to be able to wait. Use this time to evacuate the people."

They were still stunned by Jaldabaoth's appearance, and it took a while before they came back to reality.

* * *

Erina, Wilhelm and Armant were with the northern army on the walls of the city. It was likely that they could have been able to stall at least one or two demon maids, but the sorcerer king categorically refused. While it was true it would lessen his burden during the fight, it was also true that a single attack from Jaldabaoth could wipe them out.

The sorcerer king also told them that he didn't want to create a diplomatic incident if something happened to them, but to Erina it was clear he was just brushing them away so they wouldn't pull him down.

The mighty beings seemed to converse for a short moment, then the fight began. She couldn't see precisely because of the distance, but she was happy to not be able to.

Fire.

Ice.

Thunder.

Meteors.

All manners of elements came into the fight. Even a blinding light which destroyed the entire district. Two times. Those that didn't protect themselves in time rubbed their closed eyes, trying to ease the pain on their sensory nerves.

It was a battle of gods. Even Erina who was proud of her ability to cast seventh-tier magic understood that she would be squished like an ant if she tried to step in.

And this was only the result of fighting Jaldabaoth. While she couldn't see properly the demon maids, it was clear they were strong enough at least to bother Ainz. Countless missed attack opportunities by the sorcerer king could only be explained by the action of the maids.

And finally, the battle ended. The fiery Jaldabaoth hit the sorcerer king one last time, and made the skeleton fall to the ground, far away.

The humans on the walls held their breath. The sorcerer king had lost. It was hard to believe, but it just happened before their eyes. Lamentations and cries of despair were heard, only to be interrupted by Jaldabaoth himself when he approached the wall.

"Well, I have to admit he was a formidable opponent. But don't worry. Once I heal from my wounds, I'll kill all of you. Maybe torture some? Oh yes, I'll form a choir with some of you. That will be a delight to the ear…"

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

It was Neia Baraja herself that released this cry of despair and launched an arrow in the demon's direction.

And the demon caught the arrow before it hit him and inspected it, before focusing on the bow she held.

"But…But that is a runecrafted bow! I heard only the dwarf masters of the sorcerous kingdom can craft those! And for a very reasonable price! That could have hurt me, you know?"

"No! It is not! The sorcerer king himself lent it to me!"

The demon smiled.

"Too bad you didn't have more of these runecrafted weapons… You might have been able to kill me and save the Sorcerer king…Maybe…What a shame…"

He nonchalantly threw the arrow away, but Neia wouldn't make it end like that. Her whole life had changed thanks to the sorcerer king. She had learnt what justice was. She got the chance to apply said justice on herself and her followers. And Justice was power. Ainz Ooal Gown was the most powerful of all, so Ainz Ooal Gown was justice. All her inner being focused on a single thing: delivering justice to the one that had defeated the most just of all. Without thinking, she knocked another arrow and shot, screaming the name of the martial art born from both despair and hope:

"[Judgment]!"

The arrow glowed with a shiny white light and flew straight into Jaldabaoth's heart. The demon had tried to stop it like the last one, but such a simple parry wouldn't defeat the summit of Neia's most powerful emotion right now: Justice.

The demon looked in horror at the arrow embedded into its body and screamed. It was an ear-piercing shriek that could be heard in the whole city. Hope blossomed into the human's hearts. It was definitely a scream of pain. Despite the fact that their ears were hurting, they couldn't help but smile. Did Jaldabaoth get defeated? Was their nightmare going to end? Would they be able to rebuild their country, stronger than ever?

But… It was not enough. His scream slowly turned into uncontrollable laughter. The smiles that had started to form quickly vanished, only to be replaced by an expression of pure horror when the demon took out the arrow and threw it away. Neia couldn't believe it. She had not become powerful enough. She wasn't just enough. She fell on her knees and dropped the bow, which clattered on the wall.

"This arrow hurt me, you know? More than before. Initially I wanted to rest and kill you all next time, but I have changed my mind. You will all die. Right now. Oh, and if there are survivors, remember that it was Neia Baraja, the squire in service of the sorcerer king who made me change my mind."

The demon raised his hand up in the air. In his open palm, a dangerous looking red inferno formed. Slowly.

Erina knew it was dangerous. Way too dangerous for anyone here. The winds of magic screamed past her as they congregated into the demon's hand. Chaos was about to get unleashed.

She didn't even bother explaining anything, as every millisecond counted. She grabbed Wilhelm by the arm, said "Grab Armant and follow me. It's an order." And jumped without hesitation from the wall to the outside of the city. Wilhelm had questions, but he was Erina's Warden. Disobeying Erina's orders was not in his vocabulary. He caught Armant in his arms and jumped as well.

He had to be grateful for Erina this time, because the moment they started falling, he heard a deep, demonic voice:

 **[Infernal napalm strike]**

He didn't see what was happening directly, but he didn't need to. The night was suddenly lit as if it was day time, a wave of heat washed over him as if in the summer's hottest day and a stream of flames could be seen going at least twenty meters horizontally above them. Those that took the initial hit were lucky and died immediately, but those that weren't screamed as their flesh and clothes melted together from the scorching heat.

He saw Erina's staff glow, and a green light formed around his feet. Upon reaching the ground, it was as if all the speed generated by the fall suddenly vanished, making him land as if he jumped lightly. He stood there, stunned for a moment, before the sound of falling bodies and stone brought him back to reality.

"We've got to get out of there!"

He dropped Armant who immediately ran and followed suit. As they ran, the demon's voice echoed a second time.

 **[Summon: demonic core]**

Erina quickly looked back as she ran, and the view horrified her. A sphere made of a cracked dark red stone was floating above the walls, about the size of a small house. From the cracks, countless various demons extracted themselves and happily indulged in the massacre of anything alive.

The view only made her realize how close to death they had been, but it was still too close in her opinion.

 **[Pace of the wind]!**

Her feet glowed green, and her speed improved considerably. For now, putting distance between her and Jaldabaoth was the most important thing. Wilhelm and Armant didn't even slow down as they drank a purple potion which made them faster too.

And it was in this rain of charred limbs and screams of pain that they made their escape in the deep of the night.

* * *

She sighed.

"What do we do now? Do you think there might be someone in the theocracy able to… You know…"

Since Wilhelm didn't need to eat anymore and couldn't show his face, it could only be Armant speaking to her. She opened her eyes and looked at her plate with a thoughtful expression.

"We already spoke of this, it would be suicide."

Armant clicked his tongue and went back to his plate in silence. Indeed, they had already spoken of where to find someone able to change Wilhelm back into a human. The Sorcerer King was dead. The Slane theocracy was out of question. While it was possible that someone might be able to, their repulsion to anything unholy meant that it would be very hard to find someone without being suspected and catch the rumoured black scripture's attention... The religion of the four gods was out of the question for the same reasons. They might have a chance with Lakyus, the leader of the Blue Rose adventurer group. Given that she was a water god priestess but also an adventurer, her judgement might not be as clouded. But as an adventurer, most of the spells she knew must have been battle-oriented.

Basically, they would have to find a faith-based magic caster that would accept to help a vampire. A very skilled alchemist might be able too, but it was always the same. These people usually were hidden as a trump card of a nation, and even if they were known there was a low chance of one of them accepting to meet an unknown adventurer group. Not before a few months of waiting.

So here they were, clueless as to who to ask. Erina had even contacted Velda, the old man who had first helped her to find Wilhelm's location, but he knew nobody with that kind of powers.

It was in this gloomy mood that the thick grey clouds finally released the water trapped inside, quickly turning the calm city into a calm city under a rainstorm. With the lights dimming, the innkeeper lit up the various candles in the building. As he stopped by the Electra's table, he addressed them.

"Erina Eldra? And Wilhelm Eldra? From the Wolf Fang adventurer group?"

"Yes?"

"A man wishes to see you. In private. If you could follow me?"

Having just finished her plate, Erina agreed and followed the man with Armant. He led them behind the counter into a room near the kitchen, then bid farewell and closed the door behind them.

Inside, a caped man was looking at them. He looked normal at first, but his piercing gaze made her feel uneasy. The hood of his cape hid his features, making him even more mysterious.

"The wind from the east blows strongly enough to tear the leaves out of a krakka…"

The two royals immediately stiffened.

"But not enough to disturb the sleep of the undisturbed…"

At Armant's reply, the man put a small spherical object on the ground then kneeled.

"Prince Armant. Princess Erina. You can call me Ciolo, secret agent at the service of his majesty Merick Electra."

Both nodded, acknowledging the man's loyalty. The two previous sentences were the code imagined if Erina or Armant were to be contacted in an emergency. The code itself spoke of a krakka, an essence of wood that was harder than stone in Rida. It wasn't rare for rich merchants and nobles in Rida to build their houses with Krakka wood instead of stone. The other part of the code spoke of the Undisturbed, the name given to a mountain in the middle of the country. It referred to the fact that despite the harsh treatment of mountainous climate, the mountain remained undisturbed. No land slide, no avalanches, nothing.

"It is good that you found us, Ciolo. Now, if you have something to inform us of, that means it must be serious?"

"Indeed, your highness. The king has requested that you come back to Rida as soon as possible."

The request seemed absurd for Erina. Her father, the king, had strongly insisted multiple times that they couldn't come back home before the duration of one year. If he changed his mind, that could only mean one thing: something major was happening right now, something that needed the presence and attention of the royal family in its entirety.

"Has he given a reason?"

"I cannot say."

That meant that it was grave enough that the agent couldn't speak of it in the open, despite the spherical magic item designed to prevent sound to be heard from outside.

"Is there anything else?"

Ciolo stayed silent for a moment, before answering in an uneasy voice.

"This isn't part of the message, your highness. It's my personal opinion. Please, be quick to come back. His majesty Merick Electra is a good king, and I fear for his fate and Rida's fate if things are left as they are right now."

Armant nodded. Such a show of loyalty to his father pleased him greatly and put him in a good mood.

"Alright, so we have to find a teleport gate. Erina, you still have that mana crystal to trigger the magic, right?"

She nodded.

"Good. Do we have any clues of the location of a teleport gate?"

The man took out a big map showcasing the neightboring countries, but also the desert to the south of the Slane theocracy and the Kanashi empire, even further south. To the east of the Baharuth empire, the borders of an impenetrable mountain range, labelled as the "land of the drake riders".

He first pointed to the middle of the lagoon separating the two halves of the Holy Kingdom.

"We know there's a fortress deep in the sea. But we couldn't confirm if the teleport gate is still working or not. And we don't know about the sea monsters in the area too, so I would advise against this place."

The man was right. Erina could conjure an air bubble around the three of them to go underwater, but the deeper they went the more mana she would have to spend to fight off the pressure to keep the bubble wide enough. Also, the presence of potential monsters was an important risk.

He then pointed to a place in the middle of the Arzelisia mountain range.

"There was a city there, but it has been razed to the ground by the eight greed kings."

He put his finger on a point in the desert, south of the Slane theocracy.

"Here was Falame, we suspect there is a working gate, but we aren't sure. There's also the fact that it is right in the open, I wouldn't be surprised if treasure hunters salvaged everything of value or even if people rebuilt the city. The only place where we're sure there's one working is in the ruins of Ginsha, in the territory of the Kanashi empire. But it would take you four months of travel by foot just to get there."

There was a moment of silence while Armant considered the options. The first two options were obviously a no-go. The ruins of Ginsha seemed their best bet, but it wouldn't make too much of a detour to check the ruins of Falame.

"Erina, do you think you could repair a damaged gate?"

She answered by the negative.

"I'm specialized in elemental magic and wild magic. Teleportation magic is from the spatial magic repertoire, it's not something that can be taken lightly. If I were to use a damaged gate, I could teleport us literally anywhere on the continent. And by anywhere, I mean in the air, but also underground, underwater or even inside a dragon.

She made a short pause.

"However, I know of someone that could point us to a location…"

* * *

The large stone gate closed with a loud _*thump*_.

"Alright, I have to admit Erina, I didn't think it would work. And I would probably never have. You have a point."

Erina grinned when she heard her brother's somewhat defeated tone.

"I told you it would work."

Her victorious smile only added to the bitter defeat Armant had experienced. But he was right in thinking that what they just did had a rather big possibility of bearing no fruits.

The day tomorrow the meeting with the agent, they had set foot towards the Baharuth empire. During the travel, Erina finally explained what was her plan to Wilhelm and Armant. What they needed was information. And they knew of only one character that had it. A character that had lived long enough to see the fall of the sanctuaries, and by extension who knew the location of the various ruins. Well, telling he lived to tell the tale may not be the right expression to qualify the character.

After all, the spirit they had met in the tomb the vampires wanted to breach in could hardly qualify as a living. Immediately after hearing the idea, Armant had refused to go further. The last time they had seen the spirit, it had sent them against a whole vampire clan with close to no weapons and armor just for the sake of his amusement.

And what would happen this time? There were no vampires anymore to divert his attention. Would he force them to fight his spectral knights and stone golems? For amusement? What worried Armant the most wasn't the quality of the enemies. Armant's crossbow and short sword and Wilhelm's axe were enchanted, while Erina could cast magic. With those, they could easily take on the spectral knights, and the golems were clunky and slow, easy to avoid and block. No, what worried him was the number of enemies.

Even if frighteningly strong compared to other humans in this region of the world, in the end they were only three, while the tomb was packed full of ghosts and golems. Adding to the fact that they didn't know the layout and that ghosts could pass through walls, it was easy to imagine who would be the last one standing. Or floating, considering the ghost's nature.

Wilhelm stayed strangely silent to the idea, only nodding approvingly before resuming his watch. Seeing that the warden didn't agree with him, Armant had no choice but to follow Erina in her decision.

In the mines leading to the tomb's entrance, all the corpses were decaying at a very slow pace, considering no animal would ever touch something full of negative energy. Since the last time, all that could be seen was that their skin had dried up.

The tomb itself didn't change at all. And the spirit's bored expression neither. After stating the reason they had come for, surprisingly he accepted and pinpointed several locations on the map they had brought.

And just like Armant feared, the problems came when he asked for his payment.

"I want the woman to stay."

The trio stayed silent. This was one of the possible outcomes they had predicted.

"What? I gave you hospitality the last time you came and told you that you owed me a favor. Now you come asking me for something a second time, and expect to obtain it freely? I think you are forgetting who's the master of this place. **Me.** Now, you two can go away."

During the spirit's speech, Wilhelm and Erina had closed on Armant who was in the middle. But the spirit sensed quickly that they wouldn't comply to his demands.

" _*sigh*_ Guards, grab them. Throw the two men away from my residence. I expected more from the ruling caste of another sanctuary."

Immediately, the spectral knights advanced, while a ghostly blade materialized itself in their hands. Behind them, two golems put themselves in front of the exit, while two others stomped behind the knights.

The adventurers formed a triangle. Wilhelm unsheathed his axe, Armant loaded his crossbow and Erina looked in one of her pouches. This outcome had been predicted, and they had prepared accordingly. She took out a wand and pointed it high up in the air.

 **[Holy ground]!**

She felt one of the two charges of the wand being used while the magic activated. A magic formation made of golden light appeared on the ground and immediately purified the spectral knights surrounding them.

"Wilhelm!"

"Yes! [Furious charge]!"

Using the instantaneous momentum generated by the martial art, he charged right into one of the golems guarding the exit and made it fall to the ground. Armant and Erina followed him, but the second golem guarding the gate brought his massive arm down. Armant jumped to avoid before running away, and Erina discharged **[Fire blast]** on it. The spell did no damage, but the golem had to step back to maintain its balance, allowing Erina to follow the two already further into the hallway.

After that, it was a bit hazy in Armant's memories. All he remembered was running towards the exit while shooting occasionally at a ghost getting too close. Luckily for them, the golems weren't fast enough to keep up with them.

Upon reaching the stone gate leading to the exit, things got complicated. Armant pulled the lever but _of course_ it had been disabled somehow and refused to move. Erina immediately set to work to open the gate, mumbling incomprehensible things as she manipulated the wild magic locking the gate.

The teeth-grinding sound of the gate opening could be heard, but it was painfully slow. It was mainly thanks to Erina using the second charge of the **[Holy ground]** wand that the ghosts didn't reach them.

Once the gate passed, the trio didn't even look back and ran to the exit, pumped full of adrenaline as they were.

* * *

So here they were the same evening, just after a dinner consisting of a chicken broth with vegetables. The three of them were hunched over the map where Erina had marked the rough location of the ruins with a cross.

One of them was right on Arwintar's location, so it was a no-go. It was very likely that the empire's academy of magic was somehow connected to the ruins, and they didn't want to attract the wrong people's attention.

Another cross was not that far from Falame, the ruins they already knew of in the desert south of the Slane Theocracy. The spirit mentioned it was named Aljheebra.

The last was named Drakdu on a mountain, in the land of the drake riders.

They had a choice to make. Aljheebra or Drakdu. And both choices had their advantages and their drawbacks. For Aljheebra, they would have to cross the Slane Theocracy north to south, then survive into the desert until they find the ruins. For obvious reasons, crossing the theocracy with Wilhelm was very risky. And lastly, a desert is a very cruel environment. Only the toughest creatures can survive in an alternance of scorching hot days and ice-cold nights.

For Drakdu, they would have to cross the Baharuth empire from east to west. The problem lied when they would reach the land of the drake riders. First, it was a mountainous region. This was not a problem in itself, Rida was a mountainous region too and they were used to it, but that meant they also knew the dangers of the mountains. Landslides, avalanches, cliffs so high they breached the clouds, furious water streams, rifts, in addition to the local fauna which lived only thanks to a constant struggle for survival were common occurrences.

On top of all of that, they had to take into account the drake riders themselves. A population of different tribes populated the mountains, constantly at war with each other. However, if an external enemy appeared they would unify and destroy it quickly from atop their drakes. No army had ever successfully invaded these mountains. Firstly, the topography made it so it was impossible to send large amounts of soldiers to fight together. Secondly, the drake riders almost never fight on the ground. That rendered any melee unit completely useless. And lastly, their constant wars gave them almost supernatural instincts when it came to battling. They were only humans, but the proof that no other race had ever driven these tribes to extinction proved that they were not an easy opponent. And these tribes were very, VERY hostile to any stranger. From what Armant had heard when a merchant was telling him about them, if your head didn't finish skewered on a wood pole on the side of the road to make an example you were lucky.

"I think-" Armant started."-That it would be safer to go to the ruins in the land of the drake riders, Drakdu. With our current equipment, I think we can sneak in the mountains, and make our way to the ruins. Besides, we just can't waltz into theocracy territory and expect Wilhelm to go unnoticed. No offense to you Wilhelm, but you're a vampire, one of the creatures that they loathe the most…"

The warden raised his head and smiled weakly.

"None taken."

"Crossing the empire's territory will be much safer, and we all know a mountain's danger, so I believe it would be best for us to go to Drakdu."

Erina thought about her brother's words for a moment. He was right, but he didn't think it over completely.

"Alright. Let's say we do as you say Armant and go to Drakdu. All we know is that the ruin is located in one of the mountains, underground. How do you find that ruin, knowing that it's a whole mountain range we have to search?"

"We ask one of the locals. We know that the tribes are hostile to outsiders, but there's bound to be at least a few of them more disposed to strangers. I know what you're about to say, how will they know about its location? Well, even if underground, I highly doubt that no tribesman ever found it or heard of it. There must be stories or at least legends about a ruin full of treasures or something like that."

The plan seemed sound, but Erina couldn't help but feel uneasy about it.

"Armant, there's too much suppositions in your plan. You suppose that we can sneak. You suppose there are drake riders ready to talk to total strangers. You suppose we're strong enough to fight off the beasts. You suppose there are legends of Drakdu. I just can't accept going there with so much unknowns."

He looked uneasy for a moment, before sighing.

"You're… Not wrong. I guess you're more inclined to go to Aljheebra then, but I'm interested in knowing your reasons."

She cleared her throat.

"Well, my first reason to go there is thanks to the sorcerer king. You were busy with something else so you weren't there, but he gave something to Wilhelm. Can you show him?"

Wilhelm nodded, and took off his left gauntlet. On his fingers, a golden ring shined in the gentle campfire's light. Armant couldn't help but notice that Wilhelm's skin had become much paler than before. Of course, as a vampire, his skin had already turned paler when he had seen his state the first time, but it was only a slight discoloration. Now, his skin had the color of a light beige. Seemingly embarrassed, Wilhelm put back on the gauntlet and refocused on the map.

"This, Armant, is a magic ring that suppresses Wilhelm's negative aura. Without it, the priests of Roble would have discovered Wilhelm's true nature the first time we met them. With this item, I believe we can pass through the theocracy's territory without being discovered. As long as no guard gets too curious, we will be fine. My second reason for choosing Aljheebra over Drakdu is actually because it is a desert. What is a desert? An endless flat land of sand. In these conditions, I believe it will be easier to find the ruins than in a random mountain. I also think that we should be able to get local help much more easily. If there are tribes or even kingdoms in the desert, there must be a market for strangers who need guiding and protection in this environment. With the help of the guide, hopefully we will be able to avoid any bad encounter."

Armant took some time to think over everything, see if the advantages outweighed the dangers. Erina's plan indeed seemed safer. But if she was wrong and they couldn't find the ruin, they would have to go all the way back and then have to find the ruins of Drakdu. Finally, he sighed and accepted that her idea was the best.

"Alright, alright, I think going to Aljheebra is in our best interest. Wilhelm, what do you think of it?"

Wilhelm had just rose up to watch the outside of their encampment and didn't turn around. All Armant could hear was a quiet mumbling.

"I don't care, let's go with Erina's plan."

The plan for the next few weeks was set, all that was needed now was to put it to use.

* * *

First, they walked in the direction of the Katze plains. They needed to resupply before starting the journey, but everyone coming from E-rantel was very likely to be thoroughly screened by the army of the theocracy. Wilhelm had the good idea of suggesting to go to the theocracy's border by the Katze plains.

They stopped in a fort owned by the empire on the borders of the plains a few days later. The fort itself was… Impressive, to say the least. Huge walls, pits filled with sharp wooden stakes, and guards everywhere. She was also impressed by the number of adventurers in the area. There was A LOT of them. The last time she had seen this much was in E-rantel when the guildmaster ordered the eradication of the werewolf threat.

But considering the location of the fort, it was normal. With the Katze plains on one side and the Re-estize kingdom on the other side, it had to be heavily fortified. The adventurers found plenty of work here with all the undead appearing in the plains, enriching the fort even more.

They had to stock up on equipment against the undead, and there was a lot of it for sale. Wands charged with holy spells, potions brewed to burn anything unholy in contact, equipment enchanted with brimming holy light, there was everything needed against the undead.

After 2 hours of intense shopping and bartering, they were ready. But it wasn't time to cross yet. The Katze plains could be crossed in a two days if one made short pauses, but adventurers generally hunted the undead during the day to reduce the disadvantage. If Wolf Fang came in the morning on the theocracy's side after a whole night of walking, they were bound to attract unwanted attention.

They departed the next morning, blending themselves into the crowd of adventurers going for their daily hunt. At first, there weren't even attacked. All the undead were killed by young adventurers thirsty for battle. The veterans on the other side simply walked further. They knew there was more money to make deeper into the plains, and less competition.

While they walked and looked at the surroundings, Erina thought about her perception of the place. Contrary to her expectations, the Katze plains weren't that... Undead. A somewhat flat land covered in green grass with few elevations. The undead themselves appeared by various means. The plain was always a land reserved for large battle between nations. It wasn't rare at all to see skeletons on the ground with their rusted weaponry still in their hands. Sometimes, one of those skeletons woke up for seemingly no reason. Sometimes, a ghostly figure came from cracks in the ground. The ground around the crack was devoid of life. Sometimes, it was only hands or feet which stood out from the ground and wobbled weakly. A permanent ominous purple mist swirled lazily, forbidding sight for more than thirty meters away.

The undead they were quite varied. Common skeletons, but also skeletons in armor, ghosts, zombies, undead mages, undead cavalry. They even saw the contours of an enormous figure at least five meters in height in the mist, but they didn't want to push their luck so they quickly passed it.

They stopped meeting adventurers around midday, and the only sound around was the weak growl of the undead wandering aimlessly. The trio didn't even need to fight them thanks to a special potion they had bought in the fort. The alchemist owning the place had told them it was a potion designed to make the user invisible to the undead. On paper, it seemed to be overpowered when hunting the undead. But the price… Two gold coins per small bottle. One bottle could last for two hours at most before losing its effect. The undead hunt offered a small, but steady income. Not high enough to justify paying two gold coins for just a few more silver coins worth of easy work.

Erina had paid a staggering twelve gold coins to buy six of them for herself and Armant. Wilhelm didn't need it as he wasn't alive. But thanks to these potions, they shortened considerably their travel time and reached another fort in the evening.

This wasn't a proper fort, it wasn't even owned by any nation. It was just a ruin, repaired by adventurers who used it as a base of operation. It was regularly attacked by massive mobs of undead, but the presence of highly skilled adventurers who could make it this far ensured that no swarm ever went further than the wall.

The next day was spent in the same manner. Leaving in the morning with the other adventurers and walking the whole day in the theocracy's direction. They had used all the potions of undead invisibility the last day and had to fight. Because of that, they reached the fort owned by the theocracy when the sun was already set.

Erina looked nervously at the imposing gate. Spheres of holy light ensured that the surroundings stayed clear of any undead presence and the white flag with the black symbol of the six great gods appeared menacing to Erina. This would be the first live test for the plan. Around them, nervous adventurers caught pants down by the night hurried to the security of the walls.

The trio joined the file that was being checked by the guards at the entrance. The procedure seemed simple enough. You showed your adventurer plate to the guard, paid a, fee a priest blessed you to make sure to clean any negative energy residue and then you could enter.

Once their turn came, she realized they got unlucky, the guard was much more serious than the guards at the empire's fort who slacked.

"I need your plates, your names, and the name of the group. Entry fee is 10 copper coin per person, 20 if you wish to be purified by a priest."

Erina handed him the three plates, along with the coins.

"I'm Erina Eldra, here is Armant Eldra and Wilhelm Capirossi. We're Wolf Fang. We've only been out there for two days, I don't think we need a blessing."

The guard handed her back the plates and scribbled something in a record.

"I wouldn't refuse a blessing, but it's your choice…It's rare for families to go adventuring together, is there a reason for that?"

At the guard's unexpected question, Erina didn't couldn't find a quick answer but Armant calmly did.

"Well… Is there a need for a reason? She's my family, I know I can trust her, something I cannot do with other people."

"Aaaah, that i can agree with. And him?"

He pointed to Wilhelm.

"He's my uncle. He was an adventurer years ago and had retired. But he agreed to help us when we decided to become adventurers."

"Alright. Could you please take off your helmet?"

Wilhelm stayed silent, anxious. Would their cover be busted at the first checkpoint? At Wilhelm's indecision, the guard smiled.

"No need to worry, it's only a visual confirmation to make sure no monster makes its way inside. We wouldn't want a vampire sneaking into the fortress, right?"

He laughed, and the trio laughed nervously. Wilhelm took off the helmet.

"Your skin is very pale, isn't it? Are you from the north?"

Thanking the guard who came up with an explanation for his own problem, Wilhelm answered positively.

"Well, all is good. Welcome to the fort of Retia!"

Erina thanked him, and they made their way inside. For now, the plan seemed to be working.

* * *

They continued their journey south, following the coast of the Jereban sea which separated the theocracy from the draconic kingdom by a long but slim body of water. They crossed the towns of Castry, Minay and Charpieu, the guards only checking their adventurer plates before letting them enter.

But during the journey, a problem became apparent. Each day, Wilhelm's transformation into a vampire became more and more apparent. His sharp canines which could be hidden first stuck out now just a little of his mouth. Bits of red tinge appeared in his eyes. His skin became paler.

It was when they reached the village of Rouene that it became concerning. A small town with a single inn and a few shops. As they stopped at the inn to take a rest, Wilhelm took off his helmet in his room. The daughter of the owner opened the door to bring him the cup of water he had asked for and saw his face. His pale skin. His canines sticking out of his mouth. Unfortunately for Wilhelm, she had a very good eyesight. She dropped immediately the cup of water, covered her eyes and ran screaming.

Wilhelm put back his helmet on, but it was too late. The trio left a few minutes after the incident, hoping that the gold coin with the note "You saw nothing." would be enough. Thinking about it, it would have been way less suspicious to leave without a word but in the heat of the moment no one had thought about it. From this moment, they decided to avoid any town and human interaction in general.

Because of that, the predicted three days of travel of reach the southern border of the theocracy changed into a week, slowed as they avoided the roads and had to find food by themselves. Maybe it was just a trick of her mind, but Erina felt like there were more patrols than before. More people _looking for someone._

Of course, that wasn't the case. They were just more aware of any encounter they made. Fortunately, nothing bad happened. Thanks to their cautiousness and avoidance of any human, the story the guards of the village heard of "A vampire travelling with two companions south" had quickly disappeared as no one else reported seeing them.

After nearly a week and a half of travel, they finally reached the southern border of the theocracy. It wasn't the desert yet, but it wasn't a typical climate either. The sun stayed high up in the sky, mercilessly hitting everyone with UV rays, the scarce trees had little to no leaves and the ground was dried up, cracked in many places.

With a little apprehension, they walked forward in this scorching hell. Erina could cast a spell of protection from heat, but it only lasted ten minutes. Asking her to continuously cast the spell would tire her even faster than the heat did.

So, they did what they could to bear with it. Erina had taken off her heavy dress, fashioned for a cold climate. She was now only covered with her knee-high boots, pants, a light cotton top and a piece of cloth tied on her head. Armant had taken off his leather armor, only to keep a similar getup to Erina. Wilhelm was the one suffering the most. He had taken off his armor, but he had to cover every piece of exposed skin with clothes. Because of that and his vampiric nature, he felt like being cooked alive.

Before being discovered by the girl, Erina had asked the owner about people living in the desert. Luckily for her, he knew of a merchant who regularly made the trip from south to north. He had told her about independent cities formed around the scarce oases. Thanks to that, she marked the location of a few cities on a map.

As they walked, the landscape changed. The cracked earth changed into a sea of sand. The rare threes were replaced by equally rare red rocks. The sky was spotless blue. And there was no life. At least, that's what it seemed like, because they were confirmed the contrary on the first night.

A worm large enough to eat a whole man in one bite attacked their camp. As it attacked from underground, it was a bit tricky but they killed it. From afar, small fox-like creatures could be seen running amidst the dunes. A few bugs flew here and there. The desert wasn't devoid of life, it was just that most of it came on the surface during the night.

* * *

Despite the harsh conditions, they finally found the first independent city. Well, calling it a city could be argued given that it had the size of a village. The buildings were square and short, made with some sort of white stone.

The people walking in the village boasted a great deal of diversity. There were the locals with their tanned skin and mostly black hair, but also adventurers both tanned and white-skinned. Some wore light clothes, some wore armor, some wore next to nothing. She realized that those were slaves when she saw collars around their necks.

But as much as the diversity of the place excited her, they had another plan. Guiding strangers was actually a very profitable market in this region, and there was a whole building owned by a guild. While Armant went inside to recruit a guide, both Erina and Wilhelm went away to resupply.

The first person Armant met was amiable at first but smiled awkwardly before excusing himself when he showed him the location on a map.

The second person straight up refused, calling him mad.

The third asked for one hundred gold coins, which he obviously couldn't pay.

The fourth, the fifth, up to the sixteen guides all refused in a more or less violent manner. But the last one was a little friendlier.

"You will find no one here that will guide you there, brother. This is way too dangerous."

People here had a curious custom of calling everyone by "brother" or "sister". Armant sighed.

"But I really need to go there. Isn't there someone who would accept?"

The man seemed to think for a moment, scratching his chin.

"Well, you could speak to the guild master. He's an experienced guide, but he's the boss now, I doubt he'll have enough time for you…"

He made a short pause.

"Ah, there's also old Sadam, but…"

"But?..."

"Let's say he's… Special. He's a guide, but he will never fight any monster. He even abandoned a client once instead of protecting him. That's why he got expelled from the guild."

"Well, it's not like I have a choice. Do you know where I can find him?"

The guide seemed to think for a moment. Wilhelm handed him a silver coin, and he smiled.

"Thank you, brother. You will find his house easily in the southern part of the market, the door is painted red with a yellow sun."

Armant thanked him and prepared to leave. As he walked away, he heard one last thing from the guide.

"The desert isn't for weak people, brother. May the sand never shift under your feet…"

* * *

Finding the door to "Old Sadam's" house wasn't complicated indeed. Amidst all the white houses with white doors, the red one stood out a lot. Armant knocked on the door. As there was no response, he opened it a bit and stuck his head inside.

"Excuse me, is this Sadam's house?"

No answer. He entered and closed the door behind him. The inside was dark, but what little of light could seep through the curtains was enough to walk properly. He could only hear a light snoring deeper inside.

He walked past a hallway into what looked to be a living room with carpets on the floor and a pile of cushions. On the cushions, an old man was sleeping. His beard had greyed because of age, as his hair did. His features were as if someone had cut his face with a sharp knife. He wore a long robe, and in his hands a pipe connected by a tube to a cylindrical object.

As Armant approached, he was stunned when suddenly he found himself under the threat of a blade a hair breadth's away from his neck. The old man had moved so fast from sleeping to taking a blade out of nowhere and pointing it at Armant's neck that he didn't even see it.

The prince immediately raised his arms and reassured the old man.

"I'm not here to harm you! Ha'mee from the guide's guild sent me here to find Sadam!"

The old man studied Armant's face for a moment, before pulling the blade away.

"And what might the guide's guild have to do with me?"

His voice was deep and grumbling, unbefitting of the old carcass that was his body. His eyes pierced Armant with a conviction like he never had seen before.

"I'm looking for a guide to-" Armant took out the map and showed him the location"-this place. All the other guides refused for some reason."

Sadam was silent. He looked at the map intensively, as if he tried to discover any secrets it might have.

"Do you know what this place is?"

At Armant's silence, the old man sighed.

"The Dragon's maw. No wonder no one would want to get you there."

"The… The Dragon's maw?"

He nodded.

"Yes. It's a canyon of scorched hell and where every most dangerous creature in this desert decided to live."

A short silence.

"… Could you get me and my companions there?"

"I could. But why would I do it? I don't need money, and I don't have any obligation to you or your companions."

Armant was at a loss for words. Indeed, he had no leverage to make the old man accept. So he looked around, desperate for any reason. If he didn't find anything, they would have to go to the Dragon's maw by themselves, and they had no idea how to reach it.

However, he didn't notice it before but the small house the old man lived in was richly decorated. A collection of blades hung on the wall, glimmering in the unmistakable light of magic. A beautiful engraved scale armor properly polished on a stand, made from expensive materials. The heads of various monsters had been stuffed and bolted to the walls.

This didn't correspond to the old man that seemingly refused to kill any monster. His curiosity having been triggered, he couldn't help himself but ask.

"That may seem out of place considering the conversation we just had, but why all these weapons? This armor? These monster heads? I was told you would never fight a monster."

For the first time since he had met Sadam, the old man seemed unsure of himself.

"This… I have a heavy past… At a certain point in my life I decided to stop taking lives. That doesn't mean I won't defend myself, but I don't want to affect this world more than I have already."

The old man's choice of word was strange. _Affect the world?_ He was probably someone famous in the past, maybe a famous warrior. He probably meant that he had killed so much, he regretted it at some point.

"… Was it related to the Dragon's maw?"

The old man's silence spoke more than a thousand words.

"Maybe you could… Right what was done wrong? Put an end to things? "

The silence was heavy. For a minute or two, nothing was said. Then, an almost inaudible sentence formed on Sadam's lips.

"It's… True that I have… Unfinished business. Things were set in motion and I didn't have the power to deal with them. But now…"

He looked at the armor stand with a pained expression.

"But using _her_ equipment to do that… Would I dare? Would _you_ forgive me?"

His question was directed at no one in particular.

"I will guide you to the dragon's maw. I have things to deal with, and I do have a reason to go now. We depart this night, so prepare yourself."

Armant cheered internally. At first the old man seemed to be grumpy, but now that _whatever_ had convinced him he had a new light in his eyes. All that was left to do was tell Erina and Wilhelm the good news.

* * *

A deep gash in the desert, surrounded by rocky cliffs. Countless bones on the ground, both from big and small creatures. A temperature even hotter than it already was in the desert, and that was only from standing on the cliff above the canyon. The ground was made from a red rock, adding to the impression of burning inferno the place already had.

Sadam grinned and opened his arms, showing the canyon. A few teeth lacked in his mouth and his eyes glimmered with a strange mad tint.

"Welcome, to the Dragon's maw."

As if to punctuate the dangerosity of the place, a deep roar echoed from _inside_ the canyon.

* * *

 **Hello there, author here**

 **First I would like to adress the few people that commented I didn't follow the 13th volume's story. As I explained in the last chapter, I have decided to adapt the story to my liking, so I will change a few things. You probably noticed that I changed a major event in this chapter. And if you haven't, I suggest reading volume 13. It's great and you can find the links on the overlord discord.**

 **I hope you like reading my story. Personally I have a lot of fun writing it, imagining all these things is like watching a movie then writing down what happened on screen. Except the movie is different for everyone, because no one has the same imagination.**

 **Don't hesitate to comment, I will answer to every question by PM (except if it's something I have already touched on in previous chapters).**

 **See you next publication, and have a good day!**


	18. Chapter 17: Things are set in motion

The Dragon's maw was a place that lived up to its name.

The desert was already really hot, but the canyon as even worse. The air shimmered permanently.

Bones from all species littered the ground. Some of them were so big it was hard to imagine the creature in flesh.

The ground was covered in sand, but the walls of the canyon were colored in a vibrant red that seemed to reflect the heat.

They couldn't see much more from up there, but their guide Sadam had categorically refused to go inside during the day. And Erina, Wilhelm and Armant agreed with him.

They had set camp to rest and wait for the night and were currently drinking cold tea, a beverage unique to this region from an enchanted gourd.

"Can you tell us about the dangers of the Dragon's maw? It's always better to be prepared… I don't want to face these big worms like the other day."

To their surprise, the old man laughed to Erina's question. And not a quiet, normal laugh, no. It was as if he had just heard the best joke ever. His hysterical laughter lasted for a minute or two before he calmed down a bit.

"Hehe…He… Excuse me, but when you will be inside you will wish you were fighting dune crawlers! The beasts of the Dragon's maw, they're on a totally different level than the beasts of the desert. Well, let's start with the basics. The ones you will encounter first will probably be the tunnelers. They're small little brown pests, but they have proved to be too strong to more than one adventurer group. They always hunt in numbers, so if you see one you can be sure there's at least twenty others lying in wait around. They're very dangerous, but they're afraid of fire and bright lights."

The last part reassured Erina. The fourth tier spell **[Flashbang]** would be enough to repel the tunnelers if what the old man said was true.

"There's also Stymphalides swarms. Bugs, their wings can reflect any light tenfold so be sure there's no Stymphalide swarm around when dealing with tunnelers unless you want to get blinded."

He seemed to think for a moment, his hand grabbing his beard and passively rubbing it.

"The ones that will prove the most difficult I think are the Hadhayosh. Have you ever seen a bull?"

They nodded.

"Well, imagine a bull, except it's bigger, meaner and produces flames out of its body. Oh, and its hide is harder than metal."

A flame monster? Wilhelm was used to this element as he used it a lot with martial arts so he had a natural protection. Armant would stay far and Erina could cast some aquamancy spells.

"This… How can we defeat it?"

"Oh, you don't have to worry about that. They're very loud and easy to avoid, you should be able to pass by them undetected."

A loud sigh of relief escaped their mouths.

"But the creature at the top, the one that even the Hadhayosh fears are the cherums. It's relatively similar to a fire elemental… Wait no, a fire elemental isn't as horrible as this. It's like a burning sack of flesh with arms sticking of an obese body. Red-hot coal-like teeth, a mouth big enough to swallow a human in one bite and… And I think that is enough."

The Hadhayosh was already ridiculous, but now their minds simply refused to put a picture on such a horrible description.

"Luckily for you, they're very rare. I come to the Dragon's maw every year, and I've only seen Cherums two times."

Erina dreaded what monster would come next but she was reassured when he stayed silent.

When night came, it was time to move out. The moon was bright enough so they didn't need any light.

They climbed down the canyon and walked, cautiously watching the surroundings. A few stymphalides flew here and there and sometimes a quiet screeching could be heard. The heat of the canyon had considerably weakened, but it remained at the temperature of the desert during the day. Overall, things seemed calm. Nothing here seemed to be threatening.

And it was without warning that this peace was broken down.

Something jumped off the canyon's wall right onto Wilhelm's helmet. Surprised, the warden immediately tried to pull it off, but the creature had a surprising strength for its size and refused to let go. It clawed furiously, trying to find any weak spot on the helmet.

But no one could help Wilhelm currently. Sadam was nowhere to be seen, Armant had dropped his crossbow to fend off three creatures with his shortsword and Erina was holding her staff between her face and a creature, while another one was biting on her left leg.

These were Tunnelers. At first, one might confuse them with goblins. But they were smaller, had a brownish skin, vicious looking claws on their hands and a mouth full of sharp teeth. And from holes in the canyon's side, more and more of them came.

Finally, Wilhelm chopped off the tunneler's arm on his head and looked around. To his surprise, three other tunnelers were biting at his legs while two others on his chest were damaging their own claws more than anything else. They didn't have enough stabbing power to pierce the fogzephyr armor.

He could hold on pretty easily, but a spray of blood was dirtying the rocks around Erina and Armant groaned when a tunneler bit his leg, unfortunately on a part not protected by the dragon leather armor. They were in a much more dangerous situation than him.

The warden had a very short time to react before things turned out for the worse. And in this time, he remembered a certain sentence: " _They're very dangerous, but they're afraid of fire and bright lights."_

"[Overheat]!"

The blade of Wilhelm's axe suddenly turned red hot, lighting as much as a common torch. It wasn't much, but it was enough for the tunnelers clawing at his armor to back away hissing.

He ran to Erina and made the tunnelers clinging to her body back away too, swinging his axe and cutting one of them into halves. He arrived just in time because she was in a bad shape. On her left leg a sizeable bit of flesh had been bitten off, blood was flowing out at an alarming rate and a deep red gash was coursing on her back.

"IT HURTS! Flashbang! Flashbang! DIE! **[Flashbang]!** "

Because of the intense pain, she couldn't focus properly the magic only triggered itself on the third time. An intense explosion of light flooded the area from the top of her staff. Immediately, all the tunnelers in the area including those clinging to Armant hissed and ran away frantically. The intense light must have had done something to them, because a lot seemed disoriented and ran into walls, tripped by themselves or were curled up in a ball, rubbing their closed eyes.

Wilhelm didn't miss the occasion and started chopping them up to pieces while Erina took out a healing potion and drank it. Armant quickly grabbed his crossbow and shot at the defenceless creatures. The mechanical whizz every time a bolt was shot and the sound of the axe biting flesh created a very comforting melody as Erina watched the flesh of her leg reforming. When it was finished, it had a light pink color and she could feel the newly formed skin was more elastic than the undamaged one.

She wanted to sit and rest more than anything, but the Dragon's maw doesn't forgive to those that aren't careful enough. She looked around cautiously, watching every nook and cranny the small tunnelers could hide in.

It was at this moment that Sadam showed himself. He took off the cape covering his body and raised from his kneeling position. It was only thanks to seeing him actually get up that she realized it was him and not just another rock. His cape must have been enchanted with illusion magic to hide him like this.

"So. You survived. Most of the people I guide here don't survive their first encounter with the tunnelers."

"I can see why…" Told Erina, still grimacing from the freshly healed wound.

Wilhelm came back from his massacre roughly at the same time as Armant. Before they could tell anything, Sadam was quicker.

"We don't have time to speak. If you're wounded heal yourself quickly and we move. You did a lot of noise, I wouldn't be surprised if other tunnelers were on their way to this place."

Having said that he resumed the march to whatever place he needed to be, followed by the three adventurers who didn't want to meet even more of these beasts. Sometimes, the light scratching of a tunnelers moving nearby could be heard, tensing up the adventurers.

As they walked forward, they heard a buzzing sound. Sadam raised a hand to stop them and whispered.

"Stymphalides. Stay here and wait for me."

He put his cape on top of himself and crouched, slowly walking forward. He hid behind a large rock and very cautiously peeked behind it. Silently as to avoid attracting unwanted attention, he came back to the group.

"It's a stymphalide nest. We can't avoid it. Do you know any AOE spells?"

Erina seemed curious.

"What? AOE? What do you mean?"

"Oh yes, I forgot. Do you know spells that cover a large area? Preferably not fire spells?"

She answered by the positive.

"Great. Follow me. The two others, you stay here."

Once again, the old man went behind. By hand signalling, he told her to cast the spell directly behind the rock they were on. Erina was an elementalist, but area of effect spells were notoriously harder to cast than single target spells. Fire spells were out of the question. By living in this place, the bugs had built a resistance to heat. However, she had an idea to deal with very large groups of very small enemies.

 **[Aqua shield]**

A thin layer of water surrounded her body. With that protection, she jumped behind the rock and looked around. Hundreds of small insects flew around and immediately stuck to her. Thanks to her precaution, they were stopped by the water. A pile of decaying tunneler bodies was used as the "nest" and a disgusting smell of rot was spreading from it. She could see countless little white spheres stuck to the bodies, probably eggs.

 **[Water splash]**

A simple first tier spell, but very effective in this situation. A large splash of water wet the area around. The flying bugs had their wings stuck and fell to the ground. She repeated the spell to be sure that any remaining bug was downed.

 **[Thunder bolt]**

The bold stuck the ground with no damage at first, but the current passed through the water and fried all the bugs that were struggling to unstick their wings. Even with her closed eyes, the light reflected by their wings still hurt her sensory organs. Finally, she looked at the disgusting nest.

 **[Fireball]**

The nest exploded and painted the nearby canyon wall in decaying flesh, some sort of yellowish liquid and bits of bones. Satisfied, she waved at the others to join her.

"Well, that's certainly a way to deal with them."

Even Sadam looked impressed. As they walked further into the canyon, Erina started looking for any clue as to Aljheebra's location. The ruin was very old, and literally anything could be a clue. A symbol carved into the canyon wall. A rock that didn't look natural, maybe the remains of a building. Anything.

But it had truly been too long. Nothing stood out in this canyon, not a single clue.

"Have you ever heard of a ruin here? Or something man-made? Even just a legend?"

The old man rubbed his chin pensively.

"Well… There is a poem about the desert, and I think it contains what you're looking for. I like it a lot, do you want me to recite the part about the Dragon's maw?"

"Yes please."

He cleared his throat took an inspiration.

" _Its heart filled with monstrosity_

 _Up to this day slowly darkens_

 _From this place comes its ferocity_

 _The Dragon's maw is its name given._

 _Forgotten by the gods_

 _Reminder of the errors of the past_

 _Will you take the odds,_

 _And its fangs outlast?_

 _The brave will search for its treasure_

 _But the dragon watches it with fervour_

 _No amount of experience and adventure_

 _will help his anger endure_

 _Only with the power of the mind_

 _Can you become a beacon_

 _Lighting the way for the blind_

 _And escape the voice of the Demon."_

His voice was deep and charismatic, enthralling his audience into the poem, including them. Honestly, Erina was surprised. Such a voice, such a skill to tell a story was rarely seen, even the bards entertaining the court were rarely that skilled. He coughed, and his voice returned to normal.

"There are many other verses in this poem about the desert, but this is the only part I can think of that might interest you."

"Thanks a lot!"

If the poem was created by survivors of the great disturbance, then that part was indeed a clue as to where to find Aljheebra. Everything she needed to know was in the last stanza. The first verse obviously referred to magic. The following three verses referred to a particular legend that was common in all the sanctuaries before the disturbance. The names changed, sometimes it was different gods, but at its core the story remained the same. Humans came to be on this continent on boats, when the previous continent to the east they lived in fell to demons. The legends told that for months the survivors sailed aimlessly on the seas, but then they saw a lighthouse signalling a new continent. If she had interpreted correctly, then she had to search for a clue to the west with the help of magic.

Focusing, she extended her senses around. At first, there was nothing unusual. But after a few minutes, she started to locate a few irregularities. Sometimes, it was a speck of magical power that was too straight to be natural. Sometimes, it was the remnant of a particularly powerful spell cast in the past here. But there was definitely something.

Engrossed in her own world, she followed the traces of magic. As they got closer and closer, the clues became more and more, as her excitation did. It was only when Armant yelled "Surprise attack!" and drew his sword that she came back to reality. Once again, a horde of tunnelers was closing on them. But this time, she had time to react. The **[Flashbang]** followed by a **[Thunder grenade]** ensured that those in front of her died swiftly, while the two men used the opportunity to slice them to pieces.

Only after three more tunnelers attack did they reach a point of interest. Five mounds of stones, with a different weapon stabbed at the top of each one. A bow, a large sword, a magical staff, two crossed daggers and a shield hanging on an arming sword. The glow of magic showing their enchanted nature, these were without a doubt weapons of exception.

Armant, Wilhelm and Erina stopped, admiring these works of art. Only did Sadam advance. In his eyes an indescriptible sadness could be seen. He stopped in front of the graves. His voice was heavy.

"Excuse me, but I would wish to be left alone now. You are in the Dragon's maw, and I believe the young lady already knows where to look for what you search."

She nodded.

"Indeed I do. I thank you on behalf of the three of us, travelling here would have been impossible without you."

He turned his head and smiled weakly.

"I bid you farewell then. May the sand never shift under your feet."

Erina bid him farewell too while Armant and Wilhelm waved their arms in a similar manner.

* * *

It was two hours later that they found what they were searching for. Behind a large rock that Wilhelm had to turn over with the help of a martial art, there was a cave. All the magical clues Erina had picked on her way lead to this place.

The inside was dimly lit thanks to the light from the moon, but it wasn't much. The walls were made of the same red rock the canyon was made of and were smooth. Quite weird, considering it would be a perfect tunneler lair, but Erina quickly dismissed the thought. They had better things to do than pointless suppositions.

The cave was pretty straightforward, leading deeper and deeper underground. Erina thought that the cave was uninhabited but they had no way to confirm that currently.

The path became larger and larger, until they reached a very large room. Erina's magic light didn't reach the ceiling and the walls extended to both sides far away. The sound of a stream and the fresh temperature proved that there was water somewhere and a few large red mushrooms grew here and there. It was quite a surreal sight.

As they walked forward, they were surprised at the size of the place. They had walked for ten minutes now and they still couldn't see the limits of the cave. In front of them, a large hill with straight sides grew in the middle of the path. It was as if someone had chosen a cylinder of ground and raised it above ground. But at some point, the faint but distinct sound of metal hitting metal reached their ears.

"You think someone is living here? Of all places?"

Erina answered Armant's whisper in an equally quiet manner.

"We assumed that it's a ruin, but maybe it's so deep underground they survived the great disturbance?"

Both of them dismissed this ridiculous idea. The disturbance was so devastating it was a miracle that a city would have survived. Rida was an exception in the fact that it was protected by mountains on all of its borders. No race could attack them in their weakened state, and that was the only reason the Ridan sanctuary didn't fall. Signalling he was going to scout, Armant separated from the group and walked cautiously ahead with the [Night vision] martial art activated.

The mushrooms here had become bigger, much denser and formed a fungi forest. As he approached the source of water, the sound of the metal clanking became louder. Finally, he came close enough to see a waterfall falling in a small lake. He could hear the thing making the metallic sound just behind the mushroom he leaned on, and something was lighting the ground.

He peeked from behind the mushroom and came face to face to red bloodshot eyes. A bovine face with a glistening copper skin and black horns.

The creature exhaled, emitting a filet of smoke from its nostrils. The loud clanking made him look behind the creature, and realize the metallic hooves were heavily striking the ground. Like paralyzed, he let the creature approach its head and smell him.

Then, hell broke loose. The creature yanked its head and raised to stand on its hind legs with a furious bellow. At the last moment, Armant jumped away only to see the creature fall heavily where he was previously. The moment the hooves touched the ground, an explosion of fire blew him away and the earth shaked. The mushroom he was leaning on just before was torn apart and fell in a cloud of yellow spores. Then he remembered what Sadam had told them.

"HADHAYOSH!"

He screamed and fired his crossbow at point blank. Quite expectedly, the bolt bounced off the metallic hide. The monster charged at him, leaving the ground behind him covered in fire. He was about to jump away again, when a particularly similar scene came back to his mind. The scene of him hunting in a snowy forest, avoiding a particularly large and dangerous duck with horns.

Grateful to this experience, he made sure to jump away at the last moment. The Hadhayosh yanked his head to try to impale him, but the momentum made it miss. It charged right into a mushroom and Armant was hopeful for a moment that it would get stuck. But no. The beast simply ran over the fungus, making it fly up in the air in a yellow cloud.

Then, two more set of steps clanked behind the first monster. Two other Hadhayoshi looked at the scene for a moment, then prepared to charge. Armant took the only sensible decision to do.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!"

He screamed and ran away, the three bovine creatures charging furiously on his tail.

* * *

Wilhelm and Erina were both waiting anxiously, trying to pierce the darkness around them. Even Wilhelm with his night vision couldn't see the walls of the large cave they were in. Then, a low rumbling made them focus on listening. The rumbling grew louder and louder and came from Armant's direction.

Erina couldn't see far, but she could see that something was emitting light in the mushroom forest in front of them. As they approached, she heard a panicked scream. It could only be Armant. She prepared to cast magic and Wilhelm drew his axe and prepared his shield for impact.

And when Armant came into view with the beasts behind him, Erina's blood froze. Three titanic bulls with brass-like skin, a mane of fire and a pair of mighty twisted black thorns on the head. They had at least twice the size of a natural bull and the ground shaked where their metallic hooves fell.

She reacted almost by instinct and unleashed one of the most powerful spell she knew: the seventh-tier **[Piercing thunder spear].** The mighty straight line of thunder hit the first bull right on the head, but what happened next shocked her. The bull didn't even slow down, but the spell came right back in her direction exiting the bull's body by its horns. She ducked, and the spell passed dangerously close before vanishing into the darkness behind her.

"Wha-"

She didn't manage to finish a single word before Armant's scream interrupted her.

"HADHAYOSHI! RUN!"

Wilhelm had already broken into a run and Erina soon followed suit. Armant was just behind him, and it was only thanks to adrenaline that he could maintain his speed. The three set of rumbling steps and the occasional bellowing was getting dangerously close, but even with the help of magic they couldn't hope to outspeed a creature far bigger and with far more muscles. Armant had only maintained the distance in the mushroom forest because the hadhayoshi were hindered by the uneven terrain. But now that they were on the flat ground of the cave, there was nothing to slow them down. And the bulls gained ground far quicker than the humans hoped.

Looking around for an escape, Wilhelm pointed to the side of the large hill they had passed earlier. It was too far for Erina or Armant to see anything yet, but they trusted the Warden's night vision and ran there. The abrupt change of direction slowed the bulls a bit as they had to slow down enough to turn and start accelerating again.

The sphere of light on top of Erina's staff moved into the direction Wilhelm had showed, and they could see a cave in the side of the straight walls. Well, it was more of a depression one or two-meter-deep in the wall, but it was better than nothing.

Erina muttered something and her feet glowed in a light blue light, making her hover to the safe spot. Wilhelm put back the axe on his belt, put his shield on his back, activated a martial art and jumped on the wall, anchoring himself by digging his fingers in the rock and climbing that way. Armant used [Agility boost] to use a nearby rock as a foothold to jump to the spot.

A furious bellow signalled the hadhayoshi's frustration at letting their preys escape. They were way too heavy and bulky to climb that wall. Their frustration showed by a constant stream of smoke coming from their nostrils, clouding the area in a grey haze.

Everyone was breathing loudly, trying to regain their breath. Wilhelm looked fine, he was probably the most fit of the three and his exhaling quickly turned into a controlled breathing. Erina was panting hard, trying to wipe the sweat clinging to her body. The task wasn't made easier by the three bulls emitting a large amount of heat. Even from up there she could feel a hot wind coming from the ground. Armant was the one suffering the most. Now that the peak of adrenaline had faded away, he was struggling not to vomit the entirety of the content of his stomach.

* * *

They had been on the perch for more than an hour now, but the Hadhayoshi didn't move. Two of them were lying down, while the third tried to climb the steep wall with no success. A bellow of frustration accompanied him as he joined the two other and lied down. They had stopped trying to reach them, but their eyes followed each and every movement the trapped adventurers did.

While up there, Erina did some experimentations. She tried various spells of all the elements, but she had no success. Aquamancy spells evaporated before reaching the body, geomancy spells seemed to annoy them more than anything, aeromancy spells didn't do any visible damage and pyromancy only seemed to please them. And just as she feared, all of electromancy spells came back at her. The most likely explanation was that these beasts had a weakness to aquamancy, but Erina couldn't cast spells of this element powerful enough.

"They're large- began Armant -but that means they can't climb straight walls. We should find a cliff or something and make them charge at us. We can jump away at the last moment and they'll fall."

Wilhelm nodded negatively.

"No, they know their weakness. While we ran, I saw one of them carefully avoiding a small hole in the ground. It may have been a tunneler lair, but they know that long falls are their biggest threat. It couldn't even fit in the hole, but it acted as if it was afraid of it…"

"I think I can help on that part."

Armant turned to Erina with a curious expression.

"I tested different types of magic, and I can safely say that all the spells vanished on contact with them. It involves the type of mana generated by a monster, the type of magic cast by the mage and a lot of different theorems which I have no time to explain."

The two men looked at her with an annoyed expression.

"Well yes, we saw that, that means you can't hurt them. How will that change our situation?"

Despite their expressions, she stayed positive.

"At least let me finish. Let's say we dig a hole deep enough to trap a Hadhayosh inside. Let's say I cast an air platform on top of it and we hide it with sand or something. Now, one of us runs over it with a Hadhayosh in tow. You run over the disguised air platform, but it will vanish on contact with the one following you. That way, I believe we can get rid of them."

Both men stayed silent for a moment, contemplating the idea. Armant looked one last time at the bulls.

"That seems like a feasible plan, but they're huge! Digging deep enough will be tiring and time-consuming. With magic, how long will it take?"

She looked over the monsters pensively.

"A few minutes for each hole, it shouldn't take too long."

"Alright, so you dig, Wilhelm will protect you and I…"

Realization dawned on his face as he understood what had to be done.

"I will bait the three beasts away. Great."

An embarrassed smile formed on her lips.

"Sorry… I'll send a signal in the air when I'm done with the pits."

He sighed before looking at the beasts with apprehension.

"Well, let's go then. Let's not waste time."

As he was about to leave, Erina grabbed him by the arm and handed him something.

"Wait! Take this. If you're in a pinch, it should save your life."

He thanked her with a nod and grabbed the wand she had given him. Then, he jumped away before the Hadhayoshi understood that something was about to happen. As soon as he landed on the ground, he ran as fast as possible. He could almost feel the surge of adrenaline as he avoided the three beasts lying on the ground.

The Hadhayosh were very large and it took a few seconds for them to get up. Enough for Armant to get a good head start on them. They bellowed furiously and followed the prince heading to the mushroom forest.

As the rumbling of the beast's charge faded away, Wilhelm tried to see where he would go but the mushroom forest quickly engulfed him.

"Well, let's hope he's going to be alright."

There was a lot of work to do.

* * *

Another cloud of yellow spores raised up in the air as a Hadhayosh ran over the mushroom Armant had just passed. The air that was already stale thickened and made Armant cough despite the piece of cloth he had tied to cover his mouth and nose.

Because each time a mushroom was destroyed or disturbed in any way, these spores were released. Not knowing if they were toxic or not, the prince tried to protect himself but he couldn't completely. That was thanks to the murderous bulls following him and preventing from making a better protection.

He ran and ran in the forest, using the terrain to his advantage to annoy the bulls. Each second was a struggle for survival. This struggle was reinforced by the fact that he didn't know what where the effects of the wand Erina had given him. It could be anything! A flight magic to escape the bulls, a healing magic to recover from a crippling injury, a defensive magic to resist a hit, a buff type of spell of make him faster…

Because of that, he didn't want to use it. It could very well turn a bad situation into a worse situation. He had put it away in his quiver with other bolts.

His role was to escape the hadhayoshi, but also to maintain their aggression on him. Sometimes, he had to shoot a bolt to keep a bull from going back to Erina and Armant. Things seemed to be good. Too good. After a while of incessant hiding, running and jumping the effects of the adrenaline faded, leaving him with sore legs and hurting muscles.

As one of the bulls charged him once again, he tried to jump away. But his reflexes had gotten worse because of exhaustion, and the horn caught him right in the belly. Protected by the dragon leather, he sustained no injury but he was brutally sent flying into the forest. He went right through one mushroom, leaving a large hole in its foot and stopped after caving a depression in another one.

A bit groggy, he rolled on the ground just fast enough to avoid another charging bull. The ground trembled to his right and he saw the third bull charging. He had no time to reposition. Hoping for the best, he grabbed the wand. He only had time to think _'How do I activa-'_ before he felt a healing magic washing over his body. Normally, healing magic was something that was very pleasant and comforting. But now, his whole body tensed in dread. It was too late to avoid the bull. It was too late to even move.

The bull caught him right in the back, the leather armor protecting him from impalement, but not from his spine snapping. He was sent flying once again and fell in front of the first bull, which opened its gigantic maw. He was defenceless. The bull closed his maw on Armant's head and-

That's what should have happened, if not for the piece of equipment given to every member of Rida's royal family. A golden light shined over his whole body, and the bull's horn slipped on the now inexplicably slippery surface. One of the bull's feet which should have squished the human slipped too and made the bull lose its balance. It fell and slid on the ground with a loud crash. Another bull charged too, but the protective magic was still in effect and the horns slipped on Armant's body.

Revigorated by the healing, he was now in full condition once again. The golden light surrounding him faded away after ten seconds as the bulls got up. The only one that didn't fall looked at Armant with a threatening gaze, but it had understood that it was this light that made him impervious to hits.

As soon as the light disappeared, the remaining bull raised his head up in the air and inhaled a great amount of air. Cautious of this new move, Armant focused on the bull while eying the two others which still struggled to get up.

It then sneezed, but a literal stream of flame came out of its nostrils in Armant's direction. The attack burned everything in its path and the prince ducked just in time. The roaring stream flew above him and burned his hair a bit.

The deadly dance began once again but with the addition of the bulls now occasionally using the flaming attack. Ironically, this move made Armant's task easier because each time they wanted to use it they had to stop and inhale, giving him a lot of time to avoid the stream.

Eventually, an ice-blue light exploded high up in the air and lit up a large area. Recognizing Erina's signal, Armant ran back to them.

* * *

After casting the light high up in the air, Erina sat on a rock and rested. Her brain was hurting from the constant use of magic it had to bear. Near her were two small empty bottles of mana potion. The three pits she had dug up were deep enough to swallow the beasts entirely. Beside her, a huge pile of rocks showed the impressive mass she had to move.

The number of spells she had to cast had drained her of all energy, and more than anything she wanted to close her eyes and sleep. But it wasn't possible.

Thanks to their careful planning, they successfully trapped the first bull. Just as she expected, when the bull stepped on the air platform covered in a thin layer of rocks she felt the spell break and the bull fell with a frustrated bellow. As soon as Armant ran off with the two other bulls, she got out from her hiding place and cast a spell to raise the pile of rocks and stuff it into the hole. Then, a petrification spell made sure that the trapped beast wouldn't be able to get out. Despite having a monstrous strength, it couldn't exert enough power to break the stone.

But unfortunately, Hadhayoshi aren't mindless beasts. Seeing the trap once was enough for them to understand that it was dangerous to charge furiously. They now followed slowly, carefully probing the ground in front of them.

Erina was frustrated that she had dug two other holes for nothing, but Wilhelm proposed another strategy which worked. While they followed Wilhelm and Armant, Erina floated above the bulls which were focused on the ground and cast her magic.

Just in front of one of the bulls, a vertical puddle of water formed and acted like a mirror. The bull couldn't understand what it was. Suddenly, a new bull had appeared in front of him from thin air. Carefully probing the opposite bull's reaction, he made some threatening moves to assert his dominance. The opposite bull made the exact same movements. Growing frustrated, the bull bellowed and observed the opposite bull's reaction. There was no answer. In the bull's society, that meant "You challenged me, but you're so weak I don't need to acknowledge you." The original bull became so angry he completely forgot about the three humans he was chasing and presented his horns to the opposite bull. Quite understandably, the opposite bull did the same. Then, he thrusted his horns violently, intent on making the opposite bull understand who was the strongest here. To its surprise, his horns encountered no resistance. The aquamancy spell broke and the lack of resistance made the bull lose its balance. He fell head first into the hole behind the water and a sickening crunch was heard when the weight of his whole body got concentrated on his spine.

"Only one left! We can do it!"

When Erina confirmed the kill, both Wilhelm and Armant rejoiced internally. Out of the three seemingly invincible monsters, only one was left. But it didn't mean the task was now easier. On the contrary, the last bull was now even more cautious. It didn't take a genius to find out that it was extremely angry, and that it wouldn't leave them be.

The adventurers circled around the Hadhayosh looking for an opportunity while it eyed them cautiously. It had understood that its immunity to magic and steel-like hide wouldn't be enough against the intruders.

The stalemate got broken when it charged thunderously at Wilhelm.

"Haha! Come at me you dumb cow! [Strengthening]! [Titanic grasp]!"

Just before the impact, he dropped his weapons and caught the bull by the horns. The shock made him slide on the ground, leaving gashes in the ground with his feet. His muscles were in pain, his joints were barely holding on, his skin was sizzling at contact with the beast even behind the armor plates and he screamed out of pain, literally being cooked inside his armor.

"THE EYES!"

Erina and Armant quickly reacted to his intentions. She cast **[Nereid's shield]** on the prince which approached the beast with his blade drawn. Seeing its impending doom, the beast tried to work its head free, but Wilhelm had an iron grip which wouldn't loosen. Steel pierced the eyelid and blood flew like a river, spraying the area with a steaming hot crimson liquid.

A tremendously loud bellow echoed in the whole cave. The five answering bellow froze the adventurer's hearts. Distracted, Wilhelm lost his grip and the wounded Hadhayosh yanked its head free. The warden lost its balance and didn't react in time to avoid the bull biting at his left arm.

The head was unbearable, the drool slipping through the joints burned his skin but the metal didn't give in. Lighter, yes as tough as adamantium, such were the properties of fogzephyr after all. Wilhelm punched wildly at the second eye, but the beast had gone berserk and didn't care for its safety. It moved its head left and right, dragging the warden like a sack of potatoes and throwing him violently on the ground. His bitten arm cracked multiple times, and eventually the rivets holding the armor together broke.

The beast finally closed its maw and Wilhelm's arm got cut just above the elbow. He flew up in the air, before gravity took hold and he fell to the ground.

The beast then turned to the two remaining humans. It saw the female casting magic and raising a large rock but it didn't pay attention. It knew that such a rock wouldn't even hurt him. But that wasn't Erina's goal. The rock flew true right on Armant's sword hilt still stabbed into the eye's beast. The sword got even deeper, piercing right through the head. An even louder bellow which made their ears hurt signified the significant damage dealt. The creature tried to stand up, but even dragons wouldn't survive with a piece of steel stabbed through the eye up to the throat. Eventually, it fell to the ground and died with a few spasms.

Immediately after the last beast fell, Erina went to Wilhelm's side while Armant stood guard. He was in a pathetic state. He was sprawled on the ground and a pool of blood was forming around him. His skin had become much paler than usual due to blood loss. She took off his helmet to allow him to breathe properly and immediately set to work to clean the wound. They had wands charged with healing magic, but with his vampiric nature it would only harm him.

She first took off the plates of the whole arm and poured alcohol over the stump. Then, she cauterized the wound with pyromancy and bandaged it.

"We have to hurry, I don't like this at all. You know where the entrance to the ruin is, right?"

"Yes, help me carry Wilhelm, I can't do it alone."

As he took the warden by one arm and Erina by the other, he looked nervously around. That was because with his superior hearing, he had recognized that the five bellows they had heard did not come from single creatures, but rather by a group of them.

They walked as quickly as they could up to the waterfall Armant had spotted earlier. Following Erina's orders, they struggled a bit to bring Wilhelm behind it, but eventually they succeeded and watched with curiosity at what was in front of them.

It was a gatehouse. The iron-made gate had rusted since long with the water near, but the building could be recognized without a doubt. What was strange was the fact that it was a gatehouse and not another defensive building suited for underground combat. The whole building was covered in strange purple crystals growing out of the ground or from the cracks in the walls.

But they didn't have time to contemplate it. Wilhelm had a very grave injury and they didn't have the materials to heal him.

Behind the gatehouse, a silent city was spread in all of the directions. The gatehouse was elevated and allowed the adventurers to embrace the view in its entirety. The city of Aljheebra was lit thanks to crystals growing on the ground, emitting a soft purple glow. Actually, it was strange. These crystals were so big sometimes they blocked entire streets and towered above other buildings.

They had found Aljheebra.

* * *

At the same time, in Nazarick.

Demiurge sat in a comfortable-looking couch. After the defeat of the Roble Holy kingdom, his workload as Jaldabaoth the demon emperor had drastically increased, leaving him almost no time to relax.

But he didn't complain. He was a floor guardian, a being personally created by the supreme beings. If he couldn't work himself to the bone for their sake, then he wasn't worthy of being a floor guardian. Or rather, it would be more accurate to say he enjoyed working himself to the bone. He wasn't a masochist, but it filled him with a sense of pride and accomplishment that couldn't be found by doing anything else.

He signed one of the many papers that had to be sent to his underlings, when something made him freeze.

Twenty of his shadow demons suddenly disappeared from his psychic landscape. Recounting carefully all those he had summoned, he realized there were those that he had sent to spy on Rida, along with the one he had sent to spy on Erina the wild magic user. Her country was so far he couldn't talk to the demons directly, they needed to use [message] scrolls to give him reports. But there was always a faint but noticeable psychic link.

And that link had been cut, only a few seconds apart. From all the twenty he had summoned.

Now, their disappearance didn't make him sad at all, but rather made him feel cautious. Shadow demons are level thirty, or hero level for the inhabitants of this world. Way above the general level of humans. What could have killed them? Had he underestimated the humans of this country? No, there was no way. He had even successfully sent a shadow demon to spy on king Merick's spy organization, and never did he receive a report about suspicious activity.

But what if it was the case? What if he had been fooled the whole time? He was the smartest in Nazarick along with Albedo. The only person he believed in this world the closest to these two's intelligence was the golden princess Renner. What if there was another such being? Or maybe it was the work of wild magic, the type of magic they had no information on?

He was ashamed. He had failed his task. More than anything he wanted to be punished for this, but he knew his master was a merciful being of infinite knowledge. Surely he would know how did these lowly humans had accomplished this.

It was with a heavy heart that he messaged Ainz Ooal Gown and asked for an audience. He needed to report his incompetence and maybe grab an infinitesimal parcel of his master's knowledge to deal with this.

Little did he know that was only the beginning of what was to come.

* * *

 **Hello there, author here.**

 **I now have all the story planned to the end. All that is left is to write it. This chapter was the introductory chapter for the last arc. I don't have much else to say for this chapter, so I hope you enjoyed what you read. Don't hesitate to comment, I will answer to every question by PM.**

 **See you next publication!**


	19. Chapter 18: The dragon tail

The crossbow bolt flew trough the air and stabbed itself into the crystalline body. A second passed, before the bolt exploded and sent crystal fragments flying everywhere.

Armant cheered internally before taking aim at another crystalline opponent. Once more, the bolt flew true and destroyed it. He took aim again, but the sound of the string striking the empty chamber marked the end of the magazine. He took out the clip protruding out of the crossbow but didn't get the time to replace as a living crystal came close.

He blocked the sharp arm, the weapon ringing high when colliding with the metal crossbow and stabbed at the body with the sword in his other hand. Steel pierced crystal, and when he yanked the sword to change its angle the whole body fell into pieces.

The situation had turned from bad to worse just a few minutes ago. Wilhelm was resting against the wall, Armant was keeping watch of the surroundings and Erina was working on the system of the teleport gate.

All was calm, the city was silent, only broken by the sound of water dripping from a high place from time to time. Armant had crouched near a pile of crystal, curious. It had a purple color and emitted a gentle light. Then, out of the corner of his eye something twitched. He focused on the place, but nothing. He watched the whole crystal, but nothing.

' _Must have been my imagination.'_

A loud sound caught his attention from behind. Erina had successfully turned the gate on. A small crystal was fitted into a hole onto what looked like a control panel. The huge mana crystals powering the magic formation glowed in a gentle blue and power started to come to the formation. Slowly, the outer parts glowed blue and the light spread to the inner parts.

But everything was so slow! Armant was about to ask her what had gone wrong, when a sound behind him made him turn his head. The pile of crystal he was watching a minute ago had turned into a grotesque humanoid form, with flat feet and jagged sharp-looking crystals in place of fingers. Its "head" had a roughly pyramidal shape with no marks for the eyes or anything.

After swiftly breaking the _thing (_ he couldn't even find a name for it) he looked around.

All the crystals that had been growing out everywhere were moving. Some had a vaguely humanoid form. Some were more monster-like. Some were composed just of a cube or a rectangle and a bluish field protected them.

"Erina! How long for the portal to activate?!"

Of course, the urgency of the situation didn't escape her either.

"At this rate we still need a few minutes! Five at most!"

He cursed. The time was short, but these crystal beings came from literally everywhere and now that could pay more attention, the sight of the large crystals (which blocked the streets before) moving and breaking all the buildings in their direction froze his heart. And they moved relatively fast for their size.

Erina and Armant started destroying all the crystals approaching, but the ones with a blue bubble were impervious to magical attacks. Either Erina had to use a physical projectile or Armant had to approach. Fortunately, they were very brittle and a single sword slash was enough to break most of them.

Their method was brutally efficient, but they were only two against countless moving magical constructs. When one side of the entrance was cleared, it was another side which was getting overwhelmed. And the ageless walls of the building couldn't hold on for long too. Cracks started to form and bricks became loose. Then, one of the large constructs came in the street.

It looked like a giant humanoid. Its corpse was dirty with dust and he was made of the same brittle material as the others, but its imposing size and the weight of his steps ensured that any opponent better had to be prepared.

"I'll take care of it!"

"Alright!"

Erina floated away while Armant kept the entrance in check. He had trouble enough before, but with Erina out he couldn't even hope to hold the entrance. There were so much constructs he didn't even have time to shoot his crossbow. Every bit of his body was strained in every possible way to kill as much as possible in the shortest time. But even with the help of martial arts, he was alone.

He parried one strike with his sword, blocked another one with his fogzephyr bracer but a sharp-looking crystal came to his side. Just before the collision, a loud war cry sounded above the chaos of the battle and Wilhelm's axe cut the crystalline arm.

The warden had gotten up. He held the axe in a trembling hand, his forehead was glistening with sweat and drops of blood seeped by the now open wound on his left stump.

"I AM ERINA'S WARDEN…"

He raised his axe once again.

"AND I WON'T LET MY MISTRESS FIGHT ALONE!"

The blade came down mercilessly and pulverized a construct to magical dust.

"THEY SHALL KNOW FEAR! [Undying Loyalty]!"

Under the effect of the martial art born from a blind faith in his mistress, his skin glowed red. He totally abandoned defense and turned into a whirlwind of destruction. His moves were faster than ever before. His strength pulverized every construct to nothing but dust. Had he had his second arm, it would have been even more violent.

Before the whirlwind of pure rage and destruction, even the seemingly mindless constructs slowed down their assault and focused their attack on the warden. But it was useless. They couldn't hope to pierce the tough armor, and they didn't have the intelligence to aim at the unprotected stump or head.

A loud crash drowned the noise of the battle and a sudden wave of dust came from somewhere. Erina had taken down the crystalline giant and was flying towards their direction. However, on her way she saw even more of these giants, with some of them getting dangerously close.

"Get in! Get in! We don't have time to waste!"

It was total and utter chaos. Erina had landed awkwardly be cause of the sheer number of opponents and was running toward the teleport formation while trying to regain her balance. Armant slid between the "legs" of one crystal construct and followed her. Wilhelm had used one more martial art to charge through the mass of enemies towards the teleporter, sending them flying. Countless crystal fragments thrown by the constructs crashed on their armor, be it physical or magical in nature. Even some ice-blue magical rays, fortunately imprecise. The very earth was shaking because of the giant constructs stepping over buildings. The noise of the buildings turning into rubbles added even more to the ambient chaos.

And all of this mess of a scene was lit by the magical formation in the ground turning brighter by the second. By the time they had reached it, the giants had reached the building and had started to crash the walls. A column flew above them. Large bricks fell onto the formation and everywhere around. Dust didn't have time to settle as every few seconds a new wall was crashed. The dome-shaped roof started losing bricks too, creating a deadly rain on the three adventurers.

But despite the destruction of the building, Erina was relieved. The building as a whole acted as a stabilization formation, but the spell had been already activated by the time the giants had started destroying it. Now, it was only a matter of seconds before they were teleported safely to the teleport gate of the royal palace in Riyal, the capital.

But then, it was as if time had slowed down. The three of them could see every stone fragment flying in the air clearly. Swirls of dust rushed violently past them. And a giant crystalline arm, swiping in their direction.

They had no way to avoid it, so huge it was. And it was dangerously fast. Very dangerously in fact. The three of them understood one thing. Even if the tip of their fingers were already starting to turn translucid. Even if they only needed three more seconds to be teleported.

They would be hit by the giant arm before teleporting. In a split-second, Wilhelm made his decision.

"Thank you…"

That was the only thing he muttered before jumping on the arm, roaring. He was happy. He knew he signed his death sentence by jumping away of the formation. He knew he had just closed his only exit door. But he also knew he just saved Erina's and Armant's life.

When hitting the arm, it was as if he tried to move a castle wall. He felt the whole brunt of a humongous monster. But the result was exactly what he wanted. He slowed it only by a fraction of a second, but it was enough. The hit sent him flying back. In the air, he saw Erina's shocked expression with her extended arm in his direction, before the flash of blue light took her away. His body missed hers by less than a centimeter and he flew right into one of the rare still standing buildings.

The ageless building broke under its own weight and buried the warden. Unaware that their preys had just escaped, the crystalline giants kept pounding at the former teleport gate, turning the once proud construction into a pile of rubble.

They would have kept on pummeling the stone if something didn't sound in the air. Wilhelm was standing on the pile of stone that was the building he had crashed in previously. His whole body was covered in dust. The stump of his left arm was bleeding all over. One of his eyes was closed, and blood was seeping through the eyelids. One of his now visible vampire fangs was broken. In his right arm, the axe equally covered in dust glimmered with the recognizable light of magic. On his face, piercing eyes along with a fearless smile spoke of his state of mind.

From his elevated position, he could see the ground covered in smaller crystal constructs and above him at least ten giants towered, with the sound of more of them coming from other parts of the city.

He had accepted his death. He was fearless.

"COME AT ME WITH EVERYTHING YOU HAVE, MONSTERS! YOU SHALL KNOW THAT WILHELM CAPIRROSSI THE VOLCANIC WARRIOR, WARDEN OF ERINA ELECTRA IS NO WEAKLING!"

He laughed madly.

"I'M NOT STUCK HERE WITH YOU! YOU'RE ALL STUCK IN HERE WITH ME!"

It was with this final declaration and a mad laugh in his mouth that he dived into the mass of enemies.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

In the throne room of Nazarick, Ainz Ooal Gown sat on his throne. In front of him was a kneeling Demiurge and to his side Albedo was frowning. Ainz had called her despite her charged schedule because he didn't want to face Demiurge's expectations of his "genius" alone.

The overseer of the guardians wasn't happy. What Demiurge just told them was grave news.

"Are you absolutely sure that all your summons died, Demiurge? I find it hard to believe."

The demon gulped. He could hear the disappointment in his master's voice.

"I am equally surprised, my lord. Each and every shadow demon I sent to Rida along with the one following the wild magic user have died simultaneously. I don't know the reason of their death."

Albedo spoke in a harsh tone.

"You should be ashamed, Demiurge! Not only to fail the supreme beings, you failed Ainz Ooal Gown and the entirety of Nazarick! If it were for m-"

Ainz raised his bony hand. It was a simple gesture, but the sheer regalia emitted by his persona made her understand the order even before he spoke.

"Albedo. Do not blame him. Blaming is what clueless people do. Smart people find answers instead of wasting time. Tell me Demiurge, what are your suppositions. I already have an idea, but I'm interested to know if you're able to correct your own mistake."

Both Albedo and Demiurge smiled weakly. He had just called them "smart", but they were nothing compared to the overlord's genius. In a few sentences, he had not only ordered Albedo but also taught them an important lesson and offered the demon a chance to redeem himself. Truly a compassionate master. If it would have been possible to add to the infinity, Albedo's love would have grown even more.

"I have two suppositions my lord. The first one is that I have been fooled, along with all the shadow demons. But I have heavy doubts. The average power level for this world is very low and shadow demons are level thirty. Before they got destroyed they mentioned that their abilities revealed that people in this country have a higher average level, but it's only a difference of three to four levels, nothing that would have justified them being spotted and killed simultaneously. Also, they didn't report any suspicion of infiltration from the king's spy organization. My second supposition is that there's a third party involved, which for some reason protect the country. My guess is that it's either a dragon lord, or another guild of supreme beings."

Ainz raised a hand and scratched his chin. The second supposition was indeed more believable. The only dragon Ainz had met was Olasird'arc, and he was fairly weak. A few parties of coordinated adamantium adventurers would be probably able to take him on. The dragon lords must have been much more powerful if it was the work of one of them. Not only individually, but also having the ability to attract enough powerful people to pull the stunt of killing the shadow demons. The possibility of another guild was not something to discard. After all, if Ainz came into this world with the Ainz Ooal Gown guild, it was possible that other guild masters had the same happened to them.

In both cases, the opponent was powerful enough to not only locate each and every spy Demiurge had sent and kill them without giving them the chance to retaliate. It was dangerous to deal with them. Very dangerous. But Ainz wouldn't let anybody harm or even worry the creation of his friends. He considered them as if they were his guildmate's children.

"Demiurge. Pull away any member of Nazarick we have in Rida. We will not take them on directly. I know you have a very heavy workload with the Jaldabaoth persona, but I will ask you something."

The demon bowed with humility.

"Please, lord Ainz. Don't think something like that. I will work to the bone for your sake, and even more!"

The skeleton sighed internally. This was one of the parts of the guardians that he actually didn't like. It reminded him too much of his guildmate Herohero who had health problem because of overworking, and also himself since he was a corporate slave in the old world.

"You will leave Rida alone, but not the neighboring countries. Send decoys to see if they're getting killed too. Infiltrate their society. Try to learn of any powerful entity of organization and what it might be."

"Your desire shall be accomplished, my lord."

Just as Ainz was about to add one last thing, Albedo spoke up. She had a hand on her temple, showing that she was in **[Message]** with someone else.

"Pardon me for interrupting you lord Ainz, but we're under attack!"

"What?"

A genuine surprise could be heard in the skeleton's voice. He never expected Nazarick to get actually attacked.

"It's one of the patrols watching the area, they're…"

There was a short pause.

"They just got killed in a flash…"

Ainz immediately raised from his throne.

"I must see this immediately!"

Albedo instantly fell on her knees and bowed deeply.

"Please my lord, stay inside Nazarick! It is dangerous outside currently! I can't allow myself to let you go out when we just got attacked! Will you allow me to conduct the investigation instead?"

Ainz took a short moment to think before accepting. It's not like he was able to conduct a proper investigation anyway. He sat back in the throne in a regal manner.

"Alright. But I expect a report this evening."

"It shall be done, lord Ainz!"

After a quick parting word, Albedo left the room along with Demiurge, leaving the overlord to his thoughts.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

A few knocks were heard in a hallway. Armant waited for a few minutes, but nobody answered. He sighed, then turned away and left. He had hoped that Erina was feeling better now, but her emotions couldn't be explained with mere words.

She had turned in that state just after teleporting away from Aljheebra. Along with her, Armant had saw Wilhelm jump away from the teleport formation at the last moment to block the gigantic arm that was about to sweep them all away.

They were not stupid. They knew that the warden had saved them. They knew that he had thrown his life to save theirs. And because of that, they felt guilty. It was a heavy hit on Armant's mind. He had known Wilhelm since he was an infant, he was kind of an uncle to him. But for Erina, it was even worse.

Since the moment they had met, the princess and the royal guard knew that they were meant for each other. But a lot of things separated them. Social status. Wealth. Even their line of work involved two totally different schools of thought. A romantic relation would have never been possible, so they had decided to not develop the relation. The first few years of the decisions were really hard. They wanted to see the other. They longed for the moment they could have long walks under the moonlight. But past the teenage years came wiseness, and they gradually got content with their current relation.

As time passed, Wilhelm had married a cute woman at the capital and had two children before she passed away of illness. Erina had stayed alone to become the head of Riyal's royal magic academy.

Since then, they had become the closest friends in the world. Armant had even doubts sometimes who would she choose between family and Wilhelm if she had to take a decision.

Wilhelm was a soulmate to Erina. And said soulmate had chosen to end his life to protect hers. Just after the teleportation, Armant knew something didn't turn out good. They were not in the capital's teleport gate.

The mages manning the gate were looking at them with curiosity. All they could see was an unannounced teleportation with one relatively young man and a fresh-looking woman. Until one of them recognized the children of the king and sent a message to the lord's town.

In the carriage to the castle, she stayed silent. Her arms hanged limply by her side and her gaze was hollow. Wilhelm had to meet the lord alone, explaining that for various reasons his sister needed rest.

The lord named Felardo Beras seemed surprised to meet members of the royal family. He only owned a medium-sized city and wasn't a big player in politics. In fact, the only reason such an unimportant city had a teleport gate was because it was funded by shady means by a previous lord who used it for contraband. He was one of those relatively weak nobles that needed to follow a more powerful noble to have a politic presence.

Lord Beras was quite a friendly man, and immediately accepted to let them rest and send a messenger to the capital. But his town was quite deep into the mountains, and even with a horse it would take a few days of travel. They had considered sending a message through magical ways but it wasn't uncommon for people to try to intercept those.

The lord had also proposed to let them use the teleport gate to reach the capital, but Wilhelm refused. Of course, he knew it would be way faster but he wanted Erina to have some time alone. He knew she would need it. He simply made up a reason talking about her unstable mind right now.

He tried to talk to Erina the next day, but the door remained closed. The lord has posted a knight for security and a maid if the princess needed something but this proved to be useless. On the first day, rumors coursed through the lord's manor of heart-breaking cries coming from the room for the whole day. On the second and third day, the room stayed silent. The only proof of activity came from a quiet occasional sobbing and the sound of footsteps. The maid was worried because the princess didn't seem to eat anything, but as a group of knights were about to break the locked door to look inside a small piece of paper slipped through the gap with a few words: _"Don't need food. I need to be alone. Thank you for your concerns."_

During all this time, Armant didn't stay idle. He disguised himself and went into the city to listen to the news. And what he heard weren't light news.

The most obvious one: Rida got attacked by a gigantic army of goblins. The fort of Jodal held the invaders at bay successfully, but due to the sheer number of enemies the casualties were heavy. It was estimated that around twenty thousand soldiers had died while defending the fortress. Many grieving widows had to be accounted.

The goblin invasion happened at the same time of multiple armies of demons and undead appearing in various cities. The towns had been quickly taken back, but the king had suffered a grave injury while fighting. Armant smiled weakly when he heard that from the mouth of a traveler. Fighting on the front when he had a whole army could only be his father's work. Apparently, the king had aged a lot suddenly, and a little bit of unrest had started to brew in the country.

It was nothing serious in the streets. A few town criers here and there preaching for a change (who were swiftly beaten up by the crowd hearing slander of their beloved king most of the time) and a small rise in criminality, but it was mostly on the political level that this unrest could be felt. The nobles opposing the king had quickly felt the king's loss of authority, and a few of them got bolder. Taxes paid later than usual, unattendance to various meetings related to royalty… Little acts of defiance that couldn't be punished but showed a certain disdain to the crown.

Apart from the politics, a paranoia of teleportation had taken hold of the people. It was understandable, knowing that demons, undead and whatever horrible monster could come directly to the heart of every major city. A lot of nobles had already shut down their gates and a lot more were considering this idea. Apart from the rich merchants who could afford to move their wares through teleportation, everyone agreed that this mean of travel had to be regulated if not banned completely after this traumatic experience.

The curiosity about the next king had spread from the nobles to the commoners, and assumptions were feverishly made. Of course, almost everyone thought that Armant would be the next king. However, it wasn't unheard of for a king to choose a trusty noble to become king instead of one's child.

Days passed and there was still no answer from the capital. At the end of the first week, Armant went to ask the lord who assured him the messenger had been sent, another messenger was sent in case the first one had a bad encounter.

On the same day, Armant went to knock on Erina's room door like he did every day. She had started to open up two days ago, sending notes through the gaps of the door. But this time, no answer, no note, nothing. He listened carefully, but there was no sound. With his heightened hearing he could usually hear quiet sounds. Footsteps, book pages being turned or even just a breathing, but tonight there was an unusual activity. It was strange, as if someone was hitting the bed covers repeatedly.

"Help me open the door, there's something wrong!"

The knight posted at the door seemed surprised, but he didn't question the orders of the prince. With his help, Armant broke the lock and stormed inside.

The bed was unkempt, various clothes were strewn around the room and the most of the furniture was broken or burned. He recognized the now familiar impacts Erina's magic had when it hit something. The large window was fully opened, and the wind rushed through it. The noise he was hearing were the curtains maltreated by the furious wind streams. In front of the opened window, the only seemingly intact table of the room had a knife holding in place a piece of paper.

The prince read the note, and his heart skipped a beat.

 _To the prince,_

 _Meet me at the marketplace when the moon is at the highest._

 _Come unarmed, and she will be unharmed._

 _I believe you know what will happen if you tell anyone._

 _S.N_

A few unmistakable lock of blond hair fell of his hand.

Armant closed his fist, crumpling the piece of paper. The knight behind him who had just finished assessing the damage came close.

"Did you find something, your highness? Apart from the fact that the princess is missing, I mean…"

He put the piece of paper in his pocket.

"No. Call a judge, we will need his investigation."

"Yes, your highness."

Armant sighed, crossed his arms and leaned on a wall outside the room while the guards made sure that no one entered inside. Half an hour later, heavy steps sounded in the hallway and forced everyone to quieten and look in its direction.

Two men in a dark-grey plate armor, a plain helmet covering completely their faces, armed with maces at their belts and a large book held by a thick leather rope, following a frail man. He was old, bald and his heavy grey robe seemed to pull him down. Yet, his eyes revealed a man of frightening conviction and mental power.

Those were the representants of law in Rida. The men in armor were the executioners, the sword that fell down on every criminal. Their armor covered the body entirely in order to make them unrecognizable. A valuable protection to one's family when one dealt with dangerous criminal organizations. The old man was a judge, the man that would decide whether criminal offense was done and decide of the appropriate judgement.

The judge came to a halt in front of Armant and bowed lightly.

"My prince, it is an honor to meet you. I am Aldwurg, the judge sent to inspect the crime scene. I have with me Balda and Artip, the executioners who will assist me in my task. I would like to ask a few questions before I search the room."

Armant nodded to salute the man.

"I would be glad to answer, honored judge."

Aldwurg took out a notepad, a quill and prepared to write. The following questions were mostly about what happened before the crime, when it happened, what was Erina's state, etc… After a whole hour of questioning, the man put his notepad down and excused himself before entering the room, followed by the two executioners.

Armant was curious about their work, but he would never see them actually investigating a crime scene. That was to ensure that criminals didn't know how to escape being found out. Absolutely everyone had to respect that right to secrecy, and if someone insisted he would get either arrested or the judges and executioners would simply leave the place.

After reassuring the worried lord that he didn't need help, he left the manor at night to find the place described by the message. While walking to the destination, Armant was worried, looking at every shadow and every corner for a potential assassin. After all, Rida had a lot of enemies, and as the prince he would be a valuable target.

The marketplace was weakly lit by the moonlight and long shadows seemed to ensnare the corners. In the middle, a large tree offered a bit of decoration. Leaning on the tree, a hooded figure walked in his direction when he came close.

"I see you have come unarmed and alone. Good. I believe we have a bit of discussion to do…"

The voice was definitely feminine, yet it carried a mysterious tone full of confidence.

"First of all, I want a proof of her life."

She laughed in an irritatingly carefree manner.

"Hold your horses, boy. You don't have the initiative here."

He grew even more frustrated, but she was right. There was nothing he could do. He grinded his teeth in anger and suppressed himself.

"What do you want?"

"Straight to the point I see. I like that. Tomorrow morning you will receive a letter. Your instructions will be there. We will be observing you, if you try to contact anyone about it we'll execute her immediately. Oh, and give me the letter you found in her room."

He handed her the letter, but stayed silent.

"Oh, you can look at me with the glare you want, the thing is we have leverage, you don't. Now be a good boy and go back home."

Humiliated, Armant tightened his fists and left the scene. On his way back, he used [Night vision] just to be sure and his suspicions were confirmed.

On the top of the houses surrounding the marketplace, at least ten figures with bows kept watch and two figures holding staves. He couldn't see more, but it was very likely more of them were hiding. If he had tried to do anything, he would probably have been killed, despite his training and equipment.

It was with a heavy feeling of defeat that he came back into the lord's manor. He noticed a few times that something was watching him, but he couldn't spot the location of his stalker. It surely was somebody sent to spy on him to ensure his silence.

Once in his room, he contemplated his options. The first one was to do what they would tell him to do, but that was his last option. He definitely didn't want to be ordered by criminals, and even less to leave Erina in their hands. The second option was to seek help, but he would have to be very cautious about it.

The thought of contacting the judge who had come earlier had crossed his mind, but he had ruled it out for now. Judges were extremely efficient and radical when it came to serious crimes (kidnapping and blackmailing being part of these) but they required one thing to act, a proof. They would never punish someone based on rumors or empty accusations. He had no more such proof. And even if he did find one, it wasn't guaranteed that the judges headquarter wasn't infiltrated by the same criminals that took Erina.

So he decided to contact Lord Beras. It was his safest bet. The door to his room definitely watched, he would need another way to reach to him. He opened the window and looked outside. The moon was giving enough light to see the whole town from his elevated position. He could see another large building which looked more like a small castle than a residence, it was the judge's fortress. To his left and right, the manor's wall was quite decorated and offered many grips. He left his crossbow in the room but kept the short sword, and then went outside.

Currently, he was in the southern wing of the manor. He remembered the lord's office was located in the eastern wing. Down in the garden, a few guards patrolled with torches. Luckily for him there were a lot of clouds during this night, providing him with more than enough hiding spots.

Using the many protrusions in the wall, he climbed up. He lost his footing one or two times, but his agility ensured that he always found a new grip before falling down.

After successfully reaching the roof and swiping his forehead he looked around. Fortunately for him, the roofs weren't patrolled. He quickly made his way to the southern wing, taking precautions not to slip on the steep tiles and climbed down to reach the lord's office. It was easy to spot as it was the only one still lit at this hour of the night.

He landed softly on the balcony and listened inside. The windows were enchanted to prevent eavesdropping, but it was slightly opened. The lord was talking to someone.

"… Done like you asked to, now's your part. Yet there's no results yet. Are you telling me the sons can't break a single woman?"

A second male voice answered.

"It's not like we know what to do. Our chief was a very secretive man and never shared his plan until the last moment. And now, it's been a week since we received any news from him. Nothing. We can break her, alright, but after that what? You remember the story of the dismembered bodies, two years ago? That was because a few of our members weren't giving good enough results. Now try to think what would happen to us if we done something which would disrupt his plans. We're criminals, but we like staying alive if you catch my meaning."

"Well, he disappeared a week ago, but that doesn't change the fact that his last order was to break her. Am I right? Then why don't you do so?"

There was a short pause. Then, the particular sound of a blade being unsheathed.

"Alright, listen to me, smartass. We're the Sons of the Night. We take orders from nobody outside of the organization. Do you think you're special because you're a noble? I bet you do. But that won't change the fact that if a sister comes, you're as good as dead. And we have _very_ good relation with the sisters. We'll break her, but only because it's our last order. Do not _ever_ thinkyou have any sort of influence on us, am I understood?"

The lord answered positively in a frightened voice. The sound of the blade sliding into a scabbard marked the end of the negotiations.

"You'll find her in a crate shipped to your room in two days."

The steps of the other man faded away as he left the room, and the lord was left alone. He stayed silent for a moment, then:

"DAMN IT ALL!"

He violently hit the table he was sat behind. In fact, it was so brutal the particular sound of a bone snapping loudly made him scream harder. Armant watched cautiously as the lord grumbled something along the lines of "Need to find a healer" as he left the room. As soon as the door closed, he entered the room.

What he had just learned was very important. The Sons of the night were a powerful criminal organization in Rida, quite similar to the eight fingers in the Re-estize kingdom. If they were involved in Erina's kidnapping, the other man wasn't saying he could break her in two days lightly. It was very likely they could, and in even less time considering her mental state. She was already broken because of Wilhelm's death, and very vulnerable. He was worried of what ideas they could engrave into her brain in her weakened state.

The name of the second organization mentioned also worried him. The sisters, or officially named the Sisters of the Shroud were a group of very, _very_ brutal women specialized in brutal slaughter. It wasn't unheard of to find an entire manor killed of every of its occupant in a single night. The only signs of the sisters were the unholy symbols written on the walls celebrating their dark god and the occupants literally torn to pieces.

Every Ridan king had tried to get rid of both organizations, but they never succeeded. When one hideout was raided three more would sprout, better hidden and defended than the last ones. The only advancements in this matter came during king Merick's reign. He had reinforced the spy network heavily, and many leaders had been arrested or executed. But despite this, they both remained extremely dangerous organizations.

Of course, he wouldn't tell the lord anything now. What he needed were letters, a journal, anything that might serve as a proof and bring it to the judges.

The office consisted of a table where the lord worked most of the time, shelves filled to the brim with books and papers and a candlestick with its magical lights currently off. The room was dark, but the sharpshooter was able to see thanks to [Night vision]. He hoped that Felardo didn't hide his correspondence with the sons of the night amidst the books, but luckily he quickly found what he searched for.

In the wood of the work table, a hidden cupboard had been built. It required a key, but Armant simply took his sword and pried open the wood. The enchanted walls made it so no sound were heard outside despite the ruckus.

Inside, a small book which he took and ten letters. Six of them were love letters he had sent to other noblewomen despite being married, but the four left made him cheer internally. They were all the proof he needed to show the judges to arrest the lord. From initial contact to the contract passed and its terms, everything was written clearly with the lord's seal.

As he skimmed over the content of the letters quickly to try to guess Erina's location, he heard a key playing in the door's lock. He silently closed the hidden cupboard and chose to hide under the table, out of options. There were better hiding places in the room, but the door was already opening and he had no other choice.

Counting on the darkness to hide him, he prayed for the best and waited.

The lord rushed into the room, fuming. He was grumbling constantly and his wounded arm seemed to have been healed. He started to search for something on the table, violently throwing sheets of paper and books to the ground before finding the key he searched for. He opened the hidden cupboard and froze in place. He unsheathed the sword at his side and looked cautiously around.

Armant stopped breathing. The room was totally silent, safe for the steps of the lord carefully checking every corner of the room. Ironically, the hiding spot under the table seemed so obvious the lord didn't even check there. After patrolling the whole room, Felardo opened violently the window and checked the balcony.

His grumbling having changed to a constant stream of swearing, he made his way to the door and opened it.

"Raise the security to the highest! I've been robbed, and the thief isn't far. Find it, he should still be in the manor! I need you…"

Armant didn't hear the rest as he fled through the window the lord had left open and climbed back to the roof. He now needed to find a way to escape from the manor to reach the fortified building of the judges, which was just rendered much more difficult now that the lord knew someone had stolen these papers from him. He wouldn't let anyone leave without a thorough screening.

The gardens he had saw previously were an option, but it would be his last one. Now that the alarm had been sounded, the whole outside was swarming with guards. He could even see mages casting magic to spot intruders. Fortunately, they didn't start to check the roofs yet, giving Armant enough time to go back in his room. His best option for now was to feign ignorance. If he was spotted outside his room he would become very suspicious.

As soon as he landed inside, somebody knocked on the door calling his name. Armant quickly rushed to the bed and lied in it. A maid entered.

"Please excuse my disruption your highness, but I must inform you that there are thieves in the manor. Are you alright?"

He feigned a sleepy voice.

"I am… Fine, I guess."

"It is a relief, your highness. Lord Beras will be most pleased to hear it. However, I strongly advise you arm yourself and stay awake for now as we do not know exactly where the thieves are. A squad of knights are on their way right now to ensure your safety."

That was bad. Armant needed to be as fast as possible to reach the judge's fort and if he was watched constantly by knights he would never get the chance to leave the manor undetected.

"Alright. But I need to relieve myself right now. Tell the knights that it will take me some time."

She seemed surprised and worried at the same time.

"Right… Right now, your highness? I wouldn't…"

"I will not repeat myself."

There was a moment of silence. She was shocked that one might want to do it in the middle of a dangerous situation as they were in right now, but she was but a lowly maid while he was the Ridan Prince.

"Huh… Right this way, your highness. Please avoid any rash actions, and have a good night…"

She left with haste and grabbed his gear before walking to the window opposing his room. From there, he could see the manor's gates with its reinforced security. He opened it and jumped outside without hesitation. The general chaos of people screaming and checking every corner ensured that the sound of him falling into a bush stayed unnoticed.

Leaving the manor was much easier than he first thought. By smearing dirt on his face and clothes and changing his hairstyle in a few hand strokes, he joined the line of people being checked by the guards. Maids, butlers, cooks, basically every civilian worker of the manor was leaving.

The guard believed his story of being a hunter who came to sell some meat and didn't find the journal and letters he had hidden. For a moment, Armant feared that he would recognize him, but a well-placed gold coin made the guard smile and let him pass.

As soon as he passed the gate, he ran into the direction of the judge's fort. Many guards had been woken up to patrol the city in search of anything unusual. That said, he had no trouble avoiding them. He was a single man and could hide pretty much everywhere. Finally, he reached the fort. It was an imposing building, made it so in order to remind everyone that law isn't something to be taken lightly.

The fort was built in the middle of a large circular place devoid of any building. It was done precisely to prevent what Armant wanted to do: sneak in. Walking inside was an option, but the lord had already thought of that. All the streets leading up to the fort were blocked by guards.

The only way he could think of to avoid all the guards was to go by the sewers. While the idea seemed good, he had not a single clue about the layout of the sewers. He entered into a backstreet between four buildings. As he passed a door, he heard it open right behind him just before someone applied a piece of cloth onto his face. Completely taken by surprise, he tried to struggle but a strange smell emanated from the tissue and clouded his senses.

He lost control over his own limbs and was dragged by someone inside. His last thought before darkness took over his mind was what a pity it was to go that far only to fail at the last moment.

* * *

Albedo looked at the scene. Despite her love for Ainz sometimes driving her crazy, she was very serious about her work. And right now, her work involved discovering clues as to who or why Nazarick was attacked.

The "attack" on Nazarick wasn't really one. Instead, it would be more accurate to say it was an act of terrorism, because only a single patrol of naturally spawned Nazarick monsters had been wiped. As a succubus, she still felt the holy power used to destroy them making her skin itch and permeating the atmosphere. Their bones had turned into ashes, and the fact that they didn't even get the occasion to fight back showed the brutality of the attack. She was followed by a few Nazarick helpers who used their skills to gather any clue.

"Lady Albedo, I found something."

The strange squid-like creature who just spoke showed her a little piece of paper on the ground. She bent and grabbed it, before reading it. Her heart stopped and her blood froze for a moment.

 _You can go home, Momonga._

She crumpled the paper into her closed hand. Her other fist was trembling in rage.

"A...Are you alright, my lady?"

She suppressed her anger and smiled awkwardly to the monster.

"This paper doesn't exist and you haven't seen it, am I clear?"

Her smile only added to the fearsome aura she exuded, and the monster quickly nodded before retreating in fear and searching for other clues.

A storm was raging in Albedo's heart. Five simple words, but five simple words which implied that her most beloved could leave her. She would never, ever let that happen. If Nazarick was to be destroyed, then so be it as long as she could escape with him. She placed the paper into her inventory, before taking out her axe.

No one could know about this paper. No one could even have a single clue that it ever existed.

The team of information gatherers Albedo had brought were completely erased from any record that day.

* * *

 **Hello there, author here  
**

 **When I spoke of the last arc in the last chapter, I think I was a bit too sure of myself. It's not like the next chapter will be the last, I still have to write 4 or 5 of them to complete the story like I want it to be.**

 **Well then, I think you can imagine who will be the next "bad guy" or its nature.**

 **I hope you liked what you read, don't hesitate to leave a comment, I'll answer to every question by PM.**

 **See you next publication!**


	20. Chapter 19: A certain shadow

Armant slowly opened his eyes. The first thing that came to him was the feeling of a strained neck. He was lying on a bed on his belly and the uncomfortable position made his spine suffer.

While stretching his neck, he rose in a sitting position on the bed and looked around. He was in quite a spartan room, fitted with only a bed and a small table with a trail with a piece of bread and a cup of water.

The only light source was an opened window from which the moonlight came, leaving the corners of the room shrouded in shadows. A voice coming from one of the corners startled him.

"It is a good night, don't you think?"

Armant immediately reached for his short sword but found it missing. He couldn't see his crossbow anywhere either. A man rose up from a chair and advanced in Armant's direction. A grey cape covered his body, but his head showed a man in his fourties, both benefiting from the strength of youth and the wisdom of age. A short beard adorned his face and despite the situation Armant had to admit he was quite handsome.

"Please rest assured, your highness. I mean you no harm and even if I wanted it would be too late for you. I am one of the few allies you have in this town."

While reassured a bit, he stayed on guard.

"What proof do I have that you're telling the truth?"

"You don't. But I might provide elements that may change your perception about me. You are the prince Armant Electra, teleported here with the princess Erina Electra a week ago. She got kidnapped, and on you received a summon from the sons of the night. I still don't know what demands did they make but I have a hunch of its nature. Despite their warning, you wanted to warn the lord and look for aid, but for some reason you escaped the manor alone. Now, you were about to warn the judges about it. Am I right? Oh, and I also have this."

He took out a pin fitted on the inside of the cape covering his body. When Armant saw what it was, he was instantly relieved. The pin represented a crow encircled in gold, the symbol of the king's spy organization.

"I am an agent under the codename Gerey. My apprentice Hilda is also operating in this town currently."

"It is good to meet you, Gerey. I have something to show you, but first would you answer a question of mine? Why capture me like that?"

The man smiled awkwardly.

"Please understand that I had no choice. The sons of the night sent particularly skilled people to follow you and observe each and every moment of yours. I couldn't have contacted you without raising their suspicion and had to make it look like an unknown third party kidnapped you."

"Did you? Well, I guess it worked. I also have something that might interest you."

Armant took out the journal and the three incriminating letter he had found in the lord's office. Realizing the lack of light, he quickly explained the content.

"This is lord's Beras correspondence with the sons of the night. All is there, from the first contact to the contract they passed. I also overheard that the leader of the organization has disappeared or at least stopped giving orders a week ago."

The man looked at the papers pensively before putting them carefully in a satchel hanging at his belt.

"Huh… I had my suspicions that Felardo was involved in crime, but I didn't expect him to have the galls to actually pass a contract with the biggest organized crime syndicate. It's good I stopped you then. You see, the judges are also corrupted."

The revelation shook Armant. Judges were extremely well paid, and any slight of the law was punished according to the book of law they kept hidden. Now, corruption isn't that rare, but for the Judges, and organization known to be implacable concerning law application, to be corrupted was a first he heard of in many decades.

"Well, not all of them. Out of the four currently in the fort, at least two are. My apprentice is currently assessing the loyalty of the two other and making her preparations. The bribed judges should be dealt with by morning. You don't have to worry about them, those on the wrong side of the law will have their magic useless against the loyalists. However, while that is being dealt with we cannot expect their help. Their headquarter will be in chaos."

Armant sighed disappointingly.

"But they have my sister, and they spoke about breaking her. She's in a very weak mental state, every second counts before the worst happens! I must save her, but I have not a single clue as to where she is!"

Gerey smiled.

"You don't have to worry on that part, my prince. I saw a suspicious carriage yesterday leaving the manor, and I confirmed that she was in it. I also happen to know where the Sons of the night's headquarters in this town is. As I said, my apprentice is dealing with the Judge thing right now, so it will only be us two."

"What about the gu-"

The man raised a finger and interrupted the prince immediately.

"The guards have to ask permission to their superior first, and it's the lord who is the head of the armed forces of the town. If we had to conscript enough guards to raid such an important base he would know of it in the next ten minutes. Even with your authority my prince. Besides, if it's only us two there's less danger of her being taken as a hostage."

Armant sighed in a defeated manner.

"Alright. Let's make a plan."

* * *

Armant shifted the ropes binding his hands together so that it would be more comfortable. After a short but efficient discussion with Gerey, they had decided to use Armant himself as a bait. With Erina's kidnapping and the effervescence in town due to the guards patrolling every district, the security would be so tight it would be near impossible to sneak in. The sons of the night weren't stupid, and mechanical and magical traps were probably laid at every window of their headquarters.

There was also the fact that they had Erina at their mercy. As long as she wasn't put to safety, they couldn't risk her getting killed.

Gerey had quickly neutralized one of the observers sent after Armant and had switched his clothes with the criminal's, then tied loosely Armant's hands.

He was now walking in front of Gerey who had a dagger pointed at the prince's back and followed the man's instructions. They soon reached a building owned officially by a merchant guild.

Gerey knocked three times, waited a bit then knocked two times. A latch opened, and the eyes of someone gauging the two newcomers were revealed.

"Password?"

"I'm the Ghost Blade, I don't know your password. Let me through, I need to speak with Bertas."

The name of ghost blade visibly shaked the doorkeeper, but he remained suspicious.

"Can't let you in without-"

As he started to close the latch, Gerey took out an ominous-looking dagger and stabbed it in the wood, preventing it from closing completely.

"Listen to me you nobody, I'm the Ghost Blade and the four seats sent me since you can't be damned to observe a single target without it escaping. I caught the prince as he tried to escape the town, and now I need to speak with Bertas. Now, you can either open this door, or I can kill you, possess your body and make you open it. Your choice."

The doorkeeper hesitated more, as fear started to creep up on his face.

"I…"

The dagger glowed in a sick green color. This sight finished breaking the man's will and he finally opened the many locks keeping the door shut. When it opened completely, Armant saw that the man's hand were shaking.

"B…B-Bertas is on the f…ffffirst floor, at the end of…. Of the corridor. P-Please don't kill me!"

Gerey chuckled lightly.

"No, I wouldn't do that. You obeyed to my orders after all… Have a good night…"

He finished his sentence in an almost sweet voice, which only deepened the fear the gatekeeper was feeling, and walked in the stair's direction. As Armant looked at the dagger curiously, Gerey smiled mischievously and put a finger on his lips.

The many thugs that inhabited the place looked at them with a strange expression, but after seeing what happened with the gatekeeper they all looked away. Even if he wasn't the famous Ghost Blade, no one wanted to be noticed by such a shady man.

At the bottom of the stairs leading up to the first floor, a bald, armored man was leaning on the wall. Both Armant and Gerey immediately recognized that this man wasn't a common thug, but a trained fighter. His armor was well taken care of and his eyes scanned the two intruders. He kept a hand near the handle of his sword, ready to draw at any moment.

And he did. The moment Gerey came in striking distance the fighter tried to draw his blade, but his hand didn't even reach the hilt before a dagger found its way right in front of his throat. The execution was flawless, every move calculated to waste as least energy as possible, and every doubt about Ghost Blade's identity was soon forgotten.

Instead of the fear he should have felt, the man simply smiled and extended his hand.

"My respects, honoured Ghost Blade. It is not everyday that one meets such a legend. I am Arryn, personal bodyguard of Bertas. I will lead you to him."

Gerey shaked Arryn's hand and followed him. From the warrior's body language, it was obvious he was really looking up to the person he believed to be Ghost Blade. He opened his mouth multiple times then closed it, unsure of how to start the conversation. That being said, the fact that Gerey kept a serious face and an ominous aura probably didn't help the poor bloke who just wanted to strike a conversation with his idol.

Arryn opened the door to the leader's room.

"What is it?! I'm busy right now!"

"Sorry Bertas, but the Ghost Blade came. He wants to speak with you."

"The…"

The warrior walked to the side, letting Gerey enter followed by the bound Armant. Bertas started to sweat out of fear. He knew exactly why Ghost Blade came.

"So… Bertas…"

Gerey gave the rope binding Armant to Arryn and walked into Bertas' direction.

"Bertas…"

He circled around the table full of various papers and decorative objects.

"Bertas…"

He came behind Bertas and put his hands on his shoulders. The crime leader didn't dare to move. He was now sweating bullets and his hands were shaking.

"Poor old Rewis disappeared, and since we couldn't contact you… You decided to take his seat… Am I right?"

Bertas was grinding his teeth, trying to find a way out of the situation. From the other side of the room, Armant watched with fascination at how the agent was using fear and conclusions based on theories to reduce the most dangerous criminal in this region to nothing more than a child. Indeed, the fact that Bertas took Rewis' seat was a deduction that came only from the fact that Armant had heard that the criminals stopped receiving orders. And Gerey was using that deduction and his knowledge of the underworld to induce a fear so powerful that Bertas didn't even question his identity.

"Yes… Yes, you are right, honoured Ghost Blade…"

The agent took a fake curious tone.

"Ah… I have quite a bad memory when it comes to regulations… Can you remind me what do we do to the people who think it's alright to take a higher position without the seat's approval in our organization?"

The crime leader was on the verge of crying. His closed eyes barely retained his tears.

"We turn them… Into an example… Ho-Honoured Ghost Blade."

Gerey approached his head and was now whispering into Bertas' ear.

"Can you remind me what happened three years ago in Draaks? It was a similar situation, wasn't it?"

The crime leader was now sobbing.

"…The aid Herbae killed the gang leader and took the seat… He… He was found in his room a week later. He was still alive, but… His organs were hung by hooks… he was completely skinned… All that was left of him was his brain still connected to his hung organs…"

The agent took a sweet voice, as if he was talking to a child.

"Good. And we wouldn't want that, do we?"

"No… No we wouldn't, honoured Ghost Blade."

Gerey rose up and addressed Arryn.

"But that doesn't follow the rules. Am I right? After all, he broke the rules, and he says he doesn't deserve it. Isn't there a contradiction there, Arryn?"

The warrior started sweating too. He definitely didn't want to have anything related to Bertas right now.

"There's a contradiction, honoured Ghost Blade."

Gerey turned back to Bertas.

"You see? There is a contradiction. That means you deserve the punishment, am I right?"

"You… You are right, honoured Ghost Blade."

Bertas was now panicked. He knew that the legendary assassin had come for him. He knew his death warrant had been signed. Even so, his survival instinct didn't allow him to die like that. He was searching for any kind of hope. And said hope came from his executioner.

"But… I am willing to make an exception. After all, you didn't kill the old Rewis, right? You only saw the power vacuum and thought it was right to guide your companions on the right path?"

The light of salvation shined in Bertas' eyes. He gripped Gerey's clothes tightly and smiled the best he could.

"Yes! Yes you are right, honoured Ghost Blade! I had the Sons of the Night's best interest in my mind! Of course I would give back my rank to anyone appointed by the Four seats!"

" _Your_ rank?"

"I mean Rewis'! I would give Rewis' rank to anyone appointed by the Four seats!"

"There you go! Now, as we confirmed that you didn't want the power for yourself, I am willing to make an exception. I will not tell you your punishment right now because it would be boring. Instead, show me the way to your newest prisoner, the princess."

Bertas stood up so quickly he made his chair fall to the ground.

"Y-Yes! Right this way, honourable Ghost Blade!"

Signalling to Arryn to follow him with the bound prince, the fake Ghost Blade followed the gang leader to a secret stairway behind a bookcase into a large cellar comprised of six rooms, three on each side. Each room was tightly shut by a massive door, but the one in the far right corner was half-opened with a ray of purple light seeping through it.

The room itself was large and empty. In the middle, a magic formation from which the purple light came from with Erina sat on a chair in the middle. She was unrestrained, yet she didn't move. A mage in a dark green robe holding a staff was concentrating on the formation, doing whatever he had been tasked to do and a strange woman was leaning against the wall just near the entrance. She was encased in a primarily red armor with golden and brass motifs representing an eight-pointed star. She was armed with a cruel-looking axe and a falchion hung at her belt. Despite the apparent weight of the equipment, she walked as if she wore nothing into their direction.

"Bertas. What is happening? Who are these people?"

"I am sorry to interrupt you sister Cynwe, but the Ghost Blade has come under the orders of the seats. He…"

Before he finished his sentence, the sister came closer to Gerey, inspecting his face. The agent kept his poker face, but even the best make-up couldn't have helped him. Unfortunately, they had come at the wrong place at the wrong time.

"I know Ghost Blade, I met him a few days ago. You're not him! FURY!"

She unsheathed the falchion which glowed orange.

"FLESH!"

Her one-handed axe released an aura of incredible violence.

"AND SKULLS!"

As she finished her last incantation, she launched a heavy, telegraphed hit right into Gerey's direction. But even if he wasn't the famous Ghost Blade, the agent remained a skilled fighter. He ducked in order to avoid the hits from both the axe and the falchion, and at the same time kicked Bertas who was close.

Hit right into the sensitive area, the gang leader instantly fell on his knees. Armant slipped his hands right through the loose ropes which "binded" him and punched Arryn on the nose. The surprised but experienced fighter instantly jumped away to draw his sword.

"What the-"

He saw the prince take out a hidden dagger and run at him. Scoffing at such a predictable move, he prepared to counterattack. Armant waited until the last moment to activate [Agility boost]. With his improved speed he slid right through Arryn's legs, hearing the air being moved by the sword slash which missed him by a few centimeters. Armant grabbed one leg, hoping to make the fighter fall but he was shown his experience once again. Instead of trying to hold his leg in place, Arryn accompanied Armant's hand and used the momentum generated to turn around and face the prince.

"You don't want to fight me kid. I'm not like these idiots upstairs."

"That's only what you think! [Night vision]!"

A few seconds after Armant activated his martial art, the entire room turned dark.

 **[Thermal sight]!**

It seemed the mage had finally realized that a fight was taking place and had stopped focusing on Erina. As a result, the glow of the magic formation on the ground had faded away and turned the room completely dark. Sister Cynwe and Gerey were still fighting, but the only thing that could be seen was the magical glow of their weapons and the sparks each time they clashed, creating a deadly but absolutely stunning choregraphy. Bertas' pitiful wimping could be heard in a corner and Arryn was unmoving.

Currently, the only people who could see properly were Armant and the mage. As he saw him preparing a new spell, Armant shouted.

"Gerey! Duck!"

The agent immediately rolled away, avoiding just in time the **[Magic whip]** which clacked loudly against the wall, just near the sister.

"Look where you cast, old man! Aim at the brat!"

"Can't see, deal with it!"

He couldn't see? But he had just cast a spell to see in the dark! The question boggled Armant's mind so he observed carefully the mage. The old man was now turned in his direction, and another **[Magic whip]** was avoided. However, Armant had noticed that the mage had hid his eyes with the hand not holding the staff when he released his spell.

He didn't get enough time to ponder more than that. Arryn had heard Armant's clothes shift when he had avoided and his sword striked heavily the shoulder pad. The blade didn't penetrate the leather, but it had hurt the prince a bit.

Armant swore quietly. He would have to deal with Arryn first. Focusing on the warrior, he noticed he had closed his eyes. That meant he was relying solely on his hearing to fight. That honestly surprised Armant, as only a few holy swordsmen were able to fight not relying on eyesight. But he knew that this wasn't the warrior's skill, but more like cold pragmatism. Arryn had realized his sight would be useless in the pitch darkness, so he had decided to rely on other senses.

But one cannot learn a lifetime of experience in swordfighting in a few seconds. Armant ran at Arryn from the front and easily avoided the slash coming at him. However, this time the mage aimed true and the spell crackled against Armant's leg. The ethereal whip bit cruelly into the flesh and a moan of pain escaped his lips.

Immediately, Arryn striked in the moan's direction, but the pitch darkness made his sword bounce back loudly on the stone floor. Armant stabbed his dagger in the fighter's leg and came into the swordsman's arms.

The shorter reach of the dagger worked at his advantage at such a close range, and he easily stabbed his dagger once again in multiple critical areas. Arryn tried to get away, but the prince clung to him like a leech.

His cries of pain quickly faded away, and now Armant was left to deal with the mage. Gerey seemed to be doing fine for the moment. Despite his armament disadvantage, he danced wildly around the frustrated Cynwe who couldn't land a single hit.

Armant took out a particular item that Gerey had given him before the mission. It was a small tube fitted with a pin at the bottom. He pulled the pin, threw the tube into the mage's direction and shielded his eyes. A bright light explosion lit the entire room for a fraction of a second and the mage screamed, dropping his staff and holding his head.

Just like he had expected, the mage had used a spell that allowed him to see in the dark. However, the sudden bright light had messed with his eyes and he must have been experiencing the worst headache he had ever experienced.

Using the mage's pain at his advantage, Armant ran into his direction and stabbed his chest a few times. The mage's screams quickly turned into gargled cries, before he fell to the ground and turned silent.

Not waiting further, he ran into Erina's direction. She seemed to be untouched on the outside, but he feared that the purple magical formation had done something to her mind.

"Erina! Are you alright?"

She didn't answer. He shook her by the shoulders. Still no answer. Her gaze was hollow and the only signs of life was a quiet breathing escaping her lips.

"Do you hear me Erina? It's me, Armant! Answer me!"

She stayed silent. Armant slapped her a few times on the cheeks. This time, a bit of light came back in her eyes and she turned her head.

"Armant… How are… You doing?"

Her speech wasn't natural at all. It was as if she was reading a book out loud. Behind him, a male groan of pain followed by a cruel female laugh only added to the urgency.

Fortunately, they had prepared their rescue mission very well. Erina under a mind control spell was in the realm of the possibilities, and as an agent Gerey was prepared against this type of things. Armant took out a ring he had hidden and placed it on Erina's right hand.

The princess suddenly held her head with both her hands, as if under an intense pain. She groaned and looked around. The shine in her eyes seemed back to normal. The ring Armant had given her was one that drained the user of all of its magic power up to a certain level. But that also meant that any magic acting on the user was drained too.

"Magic… Drained… Can't… Think…"

Without waiting, Armant forced Erina on her feet and dragged her to the exit. She was in pain and confused, but she quickly found her bearing. The door hadn't been closed and Bertas was limping towards it.

But suddenly, a bloody figure interposed itself between them and the door. It was sister Cynwe. Gerey's corpse was lying a few meters from her but she seemed untouched save for the dagger stabbed in her right thigh, and splashes of blood that couldn't be her own.

"You won't get out like that, boy…"

Her voice oozed sensuality and brutish lust. After all, all the sisters of the Shroud revered the god of senseless violence, Melkar. For them, a good fight felt better than having sex or being high on drugs. And Gerey, despite his specialization as an assassin, was a formidable fighter. Right now, she was on her peak of violence, ready to tear anything alive for her own personal pleasure. She took out the dagger in her leg and didn't even seem to notice the blood flowing out.

"Bertas was a fool, trying to do be nice to the girl… But me… Ooohh, you'll be screaming… In…"

Her assured tone started to break. She was encased in armor, but she looked unnaturally stiff.

"What…The…"

She fell on her knees.

"I like poison, don't you… Think so?..."

Gerey was sitting, leaning against the wall, but his left arm had been chopped off, and a deep gash coursed along his belly. Armant inhaled but didn't speak further when he realized those had been Gerey's last words. His face retained an eternal mischievous smile.

Armant felt a twinge of regret at the death of the agent. Without him, Erina wouldn't have been saved and even worse, he could be imprisoned himself! Initially, he wanted to thank the agent and even reward him, but it was now too late.

A cry of incredible frustration left Cynwe's lips. She took off her helmet to reveal a pretty young face, but the looks didn't deceive Armant. Even the oldest sisters of the shroud were famous for looking very young thanks to magic.

"Not… Like… That…"

The poison finally reaching her vital organs she fell loudly, her armor clanking on the ground. Armant stepped over her body, still dragging Erina. She was confused and had not a single idea as to what was happening.

"Erina, we must get out of here. I'd like to do it unseen, but I don't think it will be possible. You have to stick with me until we find a way out."

She nodded. With her magic out of the equation, she was indeed quite useless for this escape. She knew how to use a staff for self-defence, but it wouldn't be a good idea considering her weakened state. Fortunately, this cellar must have been soundproof because there was no sign of agitation from upstairs.

Armant tried to open a few doors, but all of them were locked. He came back in the ritual room, only to find Bertas, struggling to get up. The gang leader didn't even hear the prince coming from behind and brutally thrusting his dagger. This done, it didn't change Armant and Erina's situation. Bertas had no key on himself, neither did Cynwe.

They had hoped to walk out as if the Ghost Blade took both royals out somewhere, but now that the agent was gone it was impossible. And even if Erina's face wasn't known by everyone, Armant had just walked through the main hall and had been seen by all the thugs. Even with their relatively small intellect, they wouldn't forget someone they had seen a mere ten minutes ago.

They could also wait for the morning, as it had been the time Gerey had mentioned the judges would come raid this building. But morning was at least four hours away, and eventually the criminals would notice that their leader didn't come back.

The other option would be simply to barge in and fight their way out. He might not be the best, but thanks to his training and his experience as an adventurer Armant had become a pretty good fighter. Granted, he didn't have his crossbow right now, but his skill with the blade weren't to be underestimated.

The only problem with that plain remained Erina, who couldn't even defend herself in her state. Escaping through the windows wasn't an option either. On his way in, Armant had noticed that the windows were barred with thick iron.

It seemed the best option would be to sneak out before the criminals realized that something was amiss. With no other way, Armant took the staircase to the gang leader's room followed by Erina. Once in there, they quickly skimmed through the furniture but apart from a few coins lying here and there and a small knife which Erina pocketed, nothing was worth taking.

Carefully opening the door, Armant peeked through the opening. The corridor of the first floor leading to the leader's room was lined with two door, which from what he overheard one was the dormitory of the thugs and sisters of the shroud that were stationed here, and the other was a small armory.

It was obvious that the armory was locked, and they didn't have the time nor the means to open it quietly, so he quickly forgot about it. He was about to step in the corridor when a sound made him close back the door and stick his ear to it to hear what was happening.

The door of the dormitory had been opened, and loud steps walked away before taking the stairway to the ground floor. Armant swore when he realized that the thug had left the dormitory door open. Walking carefully as to not make the old wooden planks creak too much, he reached the dormitory and peeked inside.

A lot of beds lined the walls, all with a smell chest at its feet and a central table lit by a small yellowish magic light. On the table, four thugs were playing some kind of card game, and judging by the amount of coins littering the table it had been going for a while already. Three candles provided light for the players.

Two of the players were sat back, but the two others could see everything that could pass by the frame of the door. On top of that, about ten thugs were snoring loudly on the beds.

With no other option, Armant rolled to the other side as silently as possible.

"Huh?"

"What?"

"I heard something…"

"What you're hearing is your coins leaving your purse so fast you can't even count them. Now keep playing, it's your turn."

It was with relief that Armant heard the four players go back to their game. It was now Erina's turn to pass. She had already taken out the ring, but not long enough for her mana to regenerate enough to cast a spell an invisibility spell. Left with no choice, she imitated Armant and tried to roll to the other side.

But one used to reading books and using spells to alleviate any physical workload cannot be expected to have the same agility of a melee fighter. Her landing was much louder than Armant's and was immediately noticed by the same player with a sharp hearing. He stood up and unsheathed a curved sword.

"I'm sure I heard something this time…"

"Naah, you didn't. Now come back, it will be your tu-"

"Shut up. Bertas said to be very careful for any intruder tonight. If something happens, I don't want to be the one blamed for it."

The man then advanced cautiously, looking for anything out of the ordinary. Luckily, he didn't hear the specific location of the sound and had to search in a wide area. Both Erina and Armant stuck to the wall to the other side of the door and stopped breathing. There was no escape. On one side was the open door which was being watched by the thug, and on the other was the stairway leading directly to the main hall where the main force was enjoying the night. There was no hiding place. The man whispered as he looked around.

"Where are youuuuuuu…"

He took one step. He was close to the door. He took one more step. He was in the door frame. He was about to take one last step, when the sleeping thug closest to the door snored loudly.

"Oh, come on. Karl again? I can't even sleep because of him…"

Almost with regret, the thug sheathed back the sword, kicked lightly the snoring thug who grumbled a bit, then went back to the card game.

Thanking the god of sleep (if there ever was one) to this almost miraculous intervention, Armant breathed quietly before looking at the next step of their escape. The main hall.

It was mainly formed of two different parts. Half of the room consisted of a giant counter, with numerous tables laid in front of it. The many bottles and kegs in the counter and behind it showed its alcohol-providing nature. The other half of the room acted as a welcoming area of some sort. In front of the door they both desperately needed to reach, many sofas had been laid out with small coffee table in between. After all, even if this building was a criminal den they needed to strike deals with their providers, be it criminal or not. The Sons of the night was the most powerful underground organization, but it wasn't the only one.

Armant had expected the bar to be raided by the thirsty thugs, but to his surprise most of them remained calm, quietly playing games or talking. Only a few short laughs interrupted the calm from time to time. Some of them had a tankard in their hands, but it was all.

The reason of this relative calm was revealed to Armant and Erina when a table cheered too loudly at the end of an arm-wrestling match. The fat barkeeper hit loudly the counter with his fist, instantly silencing everyone in the room.

"I know you're bored boys, but don't drink too much. Bertas has been very clear. Each and everyone of you need to stay fresh and ready to go at any moment. Am I clear?"

No and answered. The barkeep then took out a large butcher knife and brutally cut in half the piece of meat he was working on. Armant then realized that on this man's body was not fat, but layers upon layers of muscles. He repeated louder.

"AM I CLEAR?"

All the thugs answered in unison.

"Yes, boss!"

Armant was at loss. He had a few plans to leave quietly, but they all involved either resources they didn't have or were outright impossible. That was until Erina tapped lightly his shoulders and pointed at a wooden beam above them. At first, Armant didn't understand. Yes, it was a beam of wood supporting the roof, like in every building. Until he saw the other side of the beam, on the opposite side of the room. Just beneath it, a small and dirty unbarred window was closed. It had probably been forgotten by everyone judging by its lack of maintenance.

He didn't waste time and with Erina's help climbed on the beam. Then, he helped her get on as well. The beam was fairly large considering it was one of the main ones, and even Erina could balance herself on it pretty easily.

On the other side, Armant did a bit of stunts to hold himself on the beam with one hand, and open the window with the other. As soon as it was opened, he went through it.

But what Armant didn't predict when he opened the window was the wind. Even worse, the early spring wind. When one is comfortable and feels a disturbance, he looks for it in order to correct that disturbance. And that disturbance manifested by the cold wind seeping through the opened window made one thug look up. He saw the opened window. He saw from where the cold wind came. But he also saw two very, VERY suspicious figures trying to fit through the small opening.

"Hey! Who're you?!"

The loud question made the other thugs turn in the duo's direction. The large barman didn't even confirm anything before throwing his large butcher knife at them and yelling.

"[Precision throw] INTRUDERS!"

Erina would have received it in the leg if Armant didn't pull her to the other side. It seemed to be a courtyard of sort. One cart was ready to go with its load ready, while two others were parked near a small stable with a few horses. Luckily, the guard watching the opened gate leading to the street and a worker loading the cart both didn't hear the commotion inside so they had a few seconds before being spotted.

Armant immediately ran to the cart, taking the worker by surprise. Taken aback, his only reaction was "Hey!" before Armant took the reigns of the readied cart and yelled "Yah!", guiding the horses in the street.

Unfortunately, the horses were pulling a heavy load so they needed a bit of time to increase their speed. And during that time, the criminals that were inside had left the building and were bombarding the cart with whatever they had at hand. Many swords, axes, tankards and rocks were sent on the cart, but not a single one hit the drivers. A single javelin hit between Armant and Erina in the driver's seat, scaring them both. Erina looked behind, only to see the menacing look of the huge barkeeper with another javelin ready to throw. He seemed to hesitate for a moment, then turned back and yelled.

"Those who know how to ride a horse, prepare them! The others, get on these carts. I want…"

She didn't hear the rest as his voice was drowned by the loud noise of the horses galloping on the paved roads. She wanted to rest after such an adventure, but now wasn't the time for it.

"Erina, search in the crates! We need to find something to go through the town's gates! If the lord's aware of our escape, he's going to close them!"

"I'm on it!"

She began opening the various crates and bags. They were filled with many items, mainly illegal ones. Drugs, alchemic ingredients which looked suspiciously human, but also weapons and armor pieces. The fact that there was so much diversity in the shipped items proved how important this town was in the illegal trade. One type of item in particular caught her eye. A small chest full of carefully packaged vials filled with a purple liquid. She knew what the substance was, that's why she left it as a last resort.

Another item that caught her eye was a small box with three wands inside. The inscriptions on the top of the box described **[Magic missile]** wands, which would prove more than needed in their current situation. She put the box aside near the previous chest and started to open another box, but didn't get the occasion to look inside. The noise of the mounted criminals following them made both the brother and the sister turn their heads to see seven horsemen followed by two carts in which even more thugs were already aiming at them with their ranged weapons.

"Get to cover!"

Armant didn't wait for Erina's advice to lie down as much as possible, while still controlling the horses pulling the cart. Erina herself had crouched behind a box and was taking out one of the wands she had found earlier.

Arrows hit the cart in many places, but none hit flesh. The heavy noise of a javelin plowing right through a bag surprised her, but she retained her composure and looked at the pursuers.

At the forefront was of course the muscular barkeeper which must have been some kind of lieutenant given the authority he had on the underlings. She cast one charge of **[Magic missile]** aiming at his horse, but the man cleverly avoided. As to avoid wasting charges of the wands, she started to throw away the many crates on the cart. Upon hitting the ground, they broke and released their contents, forcing the horse riders to slow down to avoid the debris.

"Erina! I need your help!"

Turning to the front of the cart, she saw a blockade had been built in the street. A makeshift fence had been erected and behind it a few guards looked with confusion at the cart speeding in their direction.

 **[Magic missile]!**

Another precious charge of the wand was used to break the fence in its middle. Well, the relatively weak first-tier spell didn't break it but greatly weakened it, allowing the horses to break it to the ground. The thugs didn't stop shooting and one of the guards was sent to the ground with two arrows in his chest.

While Wilhelm drove the cart in the town's gate direction, Erina used the wands to make the mounted criminals fall of their horse. Each wand contained five charges and she was left much to soon with a single charge left in the last wand. Of the horsemen, only the lieutenant was remaining. He too kept his last javelin to the very end to make it count. One cart had been stopped, but the other was still driving close.

They weren't that far from the gate, but the horses pulling their own cart were starting to get tired from the constant galloping. Their breathing was becoming more laborious, and the loss of speed was starting to feel very dangerous.

The lieutenant had remarked it, and a triumphant smile formed on his lips as he spurred his horse to get closer to the cart. Aiming carefully the last wand, Erina used it but swore when he avoided it just like the last time. But that act wasn't fruitless. It rewarded her with some precious seconds which would overturn the situation.

The lieutenant raised his arm, ready to throw the last javelin. He knew that the woman was precious and that she couldn't be harmed, so he intended to throw it in the driver's back. He activated his signature martial art, [Precision throw], and waited until the horse got closer to the cart. Once close enough, he violently launched the javelin, and awaited the predictable cry of pain.

But what he heard wasn't what he expected.

 **[Magic shield]!**

A translucent mana shield intercepted the javelin and sent it harmlessly to the ground. When he looked up, the lieutenant got afraid. Very afraid. Erina was standing in the cart's back, and in her palms dangerous-looking flames were forming.

"What the-"

 **[Greater flamethrower]!**

A stream of flames instantly engulfed him, turning both the man and the horse into a living torch. The man screamed along with the horse and fell to the ground as his flesh melted. Erina then looked in the direction of the cart that had been following them. The driver had seen what happened to the lieutenant and was slowing down the horses, trying to avoid a premature death.

But it was too late.

 **[Thunder grenade]!**

A sphere of thunder hit the front of the cart, instantly destroying it in half and turning those directly hit into ashes. Erina didn't look at the result, but sat down and breathed loudly, trying to somewhat control what was happening to them.

Out of necessity, she had been forced to drink the content of the vials she had found in the small chest. They contained a combat drug specifically for mages: the red-eye. This drug allowed a magic user to increase his mana regeneration to a ludicrous level for about ten seconds. This seemed to be an overpowered item, until one looked at the side-effects. Erina's body was trying to handle the sudden overload of mana, but couldn't. Many veins had broken because of the drug, and her organs were probably failing more and more by the second. Blood was seeping out of her mouth, nose, ears and eyes. The usual green color of the iris had been replaced by a scarlet red.

This sight didn't escape Armant who immediately stopped the cart. There might have been more pursuers, but if Erina died then it was all for naught. He opened a vial that Gerey gave him before the mission and emptied the content on her body. The wounds closed and blood stopped flowing out, but it was only a small part of the healing process. She would need more magic and potions until her body was stabilized.

After setting her in a more comfortable position, he took the reigns back and advanced at a moderate speed in the gate's direction. It wasn't that far now, and he reached it ten minutes later.

"Halt! Who goes there? The town is on lockdown!"

One of the guards shouted while extending his arm holding a lantern, trying to discern the face of the newcomers.

"I am Armant Electra, son of the king Merick Electra and prince of Rida. Open this gate right this instant."

"Yeah, right, and I'm the king of the rats. The lord ordered a city-wide lockdown and no one's getting out tonight. In fact, he informed us to arrest any people trying to get out."

He drew his blade with his free hand and signalled the three other guards to join him.

"That's why you're coming with me if you don't want any trouble."

Armant sighed. He didn't want to deal with this right now. He was about to protest, when another guard came out of the outpost guarding this gate. He had a silver shield woven on his uniform, sign of his rank of captain.

"Let them pass, soldier. They have a special permission."

"But sir, the lord said-"

"The lord can say what he wants, he's not here to give orders while I am. Let them pass, it's an order from your superior."

"But…"

"No buts, soldier. Now get back to your post and open that gate for them."

"… Alright, sir."

The sergeant winked at Armant with a smile, and went back into the outpost. Armant could only assume the sergeant was one of Gerey's trusted men into this town, and once more he thanked the agent for his work.

Once the gate was opened, Armant made the horses advance into the dark. The path outside was surrounded by fields everywhere. Most of them were empty, ready to be seeded for spring and summer while some had cereals resistant to cold temperatures. Just as if he was being rewarded for all his efforts, the sun peeked out of the horizon, gently warming his skin. The dew on the wet grass reflected that light like a sea of diamonds. It seemed to be truly a blessing. Such a blessing in fact, that Armant didn't notice the group of armored men until it was too late.

"You there! Stop your cart!"

* * *

Meanwhile, in the sorcerous kingdom. The patrols watching the areas around Nazarick kept disappearing. And at every occurrence, Albedo found a new note on the site.

 _You do not belong here, Momonga._

 _I can help you go back home, Momonga._

 _You are not the first, and certainly not the last._

Each note had a similar message. And each time, the patrol was purified with holy power. With the advice of his most trusted aids, Ainz had tried to send out different monsters on patrol but the result was the same. The mysterious enemy just changed his tactic to instantly wipe the new monsters. And the observers were all found unconscious or killed after the attack.

Albedo kept the secret about the messages, not telling anybody. But her unusual behaviour didn't escape Demiurge, who soon found out about the whole affair. He teleported on the site of an attack as soon as it happened, and found the messages Albedo was desperately trying to hide.

The overseer of the guardians came a few seconds later, but it was too late. The demon simply frowned, and both of them decided to talk privately.

As soon as the door to Demiurge's room was closed and spells cast to make sure no one would hear or see…

"WHY DID YOU DO THAT?"

Demiurge's anger exploded. His crystalline eyes bulged out of his head, and his tail was twitching violently. Albedo on the other side kept calm, she gently sat down on a couch and invited the demon to imitate her.

"I did not tell anyone for a simple reason, Demiurge. Can you imagine if Lord Ainz left Nazarick to never come back? We both know that the probability of that happening is close to none, but that might not be the case for everyone in Nazarick. I wanted to avoid a mass panic, while investigating on my own. And I didn't tell lord Ainz because, well, it would be odd for him not to know. I feel that his silence concerning the matter is an approval of my actions. I feel my beloved is telling me to improve by resolving this ordeal."

Albedo's analytic answer calmed down Demiurge, who after a short consideration retracted his demonic claws and sat in front of the overseer.

"Hmm… You may be right. Forgive me for this outburst. Have you got any clue as to the identity of the killer?"

Albedo shifted on her couch, taking a more comfortable position.

"I placed observers from all the senses. Sight, hearing, smell, touch, taste and even an arcane diviner, but all of them got destroyed or were knocked unconscious. I even searched through their memory, but the closest I have to a clue is a blinding white light and the jamming of other senses with an overload of information."

Demiurge raised an eyebrow.

"Some were knocked unconscious? That means that the assailant doesn't intend to commit blind killing. I think he wants to pass a message, and wants to be sure that this message is passed to lord Ainz. I assume all the other notes have a similar message to the one I found today?"

She nodded positively.

"Then I think it is right to think that we are against another supreme being. One that came before our lord and who believes that he has the right to insult other supreme beings. Of course, we will not let that pass. Do you have a plan?"

"Yes I do. And your silence is absolutely required for this operation."

"I agree, Albedo. But should lord Ainz directly ask me about it, do not expect me to keep it to myself."

"Of course. He already knows of the plan after all, I would only expect him to ask us if he deems that it can be improved."

Demiurge frowned. His only worry was that his plan would interfere with his lord's. But even if it was the case, he couldn't even imagine that Ainz wouldn't have prepared for this.

* * *

At his office in E-rantel, at the same moment. Ainz felt an itch at his nose, and the strange feeling that he somehow failed his npc's once again.

* * *

 **Hello, author here,**

 **I received comments in the last chapter of people believing I made Albedo betray Nazarick. I don't know why some of you made that assumption. Maybe I didn't write something properly or in a weird way, but I absolutely never wrote that she betrayed Nazarick. All she did was take out some Nazarick's naturally spawned monsters which would be respawned the next day.**

 **Anyway, I hope you liked what you read. Don't hesitate to comment, I will answer to every question by PM.**

 **Have a good day/night, and see you next publication!**


	21. Chapter 20: The shadow grows

"You there! Stop your cart!"

Armant's daydreaming got interrupted by a rough voice. Immediately thinking of potential pursuers, he unsheathed his sword and looked around. Without him realizing at least twenty armored men surrounded the cart, and he could discern the shapes of a few more in the shadows of the forest they were in.

Their properly maintained armor and weaponry along with their professional stance was all he needed to recognize trained soldiers. Outnumbered and weighted down by the unconscious Erina, Armant decided to decline his full identity, hoping that these were loyal to the crown. At the same time, he readied himself to whip the horses in a speedy escape.

"I am Armant Electra, son of the king Merick Electra and prince of the royal family. Who dares to order me?"

The soldiers looked unsure. They scrutinized the young man who claimed to be of royal blood and looked at one another. Eventually, one of the soldiers went back in the forest, and came back with another soldier with him. This one had a full plate armor and a two-handed sword hung in his back. His ornate armor denoted someone of great importance. As soon as he saw the face of the young man on the cart, he ordered his men.

"All of you, kneel!"

He knelt alongside his men and spoke with his head low.

"I am terribly sorry your highness, my men didn't recognize you and I hope you will forgive them this slight."

After a whole night spent trying to hide himself, Armant felt relieved. It felt good to know that he was surrounded by allies.

"I forgive your men, please raise your heards. I need to speak with the person in command here, but before that I need medical aid for my sister in the cart."

The captain signalled one of his men to fetch medical aid before turning back to Armant. Despite being higher in command, Armant came to the ground out of respect for the soldier's experience.

"That would be me, your highness. I am Captain Robard, in charge of garrison of Black iron fort north of here."

As soon as the medical personnel came to heal Erina, Armant told them first by what she got wounded. While the healers worked on Erina, he told the captain the happenings of the last days. From how he came with teleportation with his sister, to the betrayal of Lord Beras and the escape from the town and the pursuers.

During all of this, the captain kept silent, nodding from time to time or expressing his anger. Not his anger at the royal's harm, he wasn't that patriotic of a man, but his anger at the thought that a lord, a man of great importance like that could even think of dealing with scums like the Sons of the night.

"Well, it seems that we will need to deal with that lord then. But for that, I will need your help."

Armant sent him a curious look.

"We have enough forces to take the city. I was informed a few days ago by an agent that something was brewing in town and that I needed to bring soldiers to help lord Beras. But now that he's a traitor, he needs to be replaced. I have with me a hundred soldiers, twenty cavalrymen, ten war wizards and ten clerics. They're not high in number, but they're experienced soldiers who should be able to take on any town guard easily. The problem remains that I don't have the accreditation to remove the status of noble of Beras. But you have that authority as a member of the royal family. Of course, I will leave ten soldiers, a few healers and an officer to take care of the princess while we're in town. What say you of this plan, your highness?"

That seemed to be the best plan, so Armant had no choice but to agree. If Robard went in town alone, there was a possibility of confusion coming from the guards and judges alike. As long as Armant was there to officially accuse the lord, there would be none.

"Very well, it seems like the best thing to do. May I have a word with the healers while you prepare your troops?"

Lord Robard agreed and Armant faced the healers in the cart who worked on Erina. The head healer noticed him approaching and came down the cart to speak with him at head level.

"It is an honour to meet you, your highness."

Armant waved a hand, irritated.

"Do not sugarcoat your answer please. Is she alright?"

The head healer fidgeted, unsure of how to answer. Eventually, he sighed and delivered the facts bluntly.

"Well, from the symptoms you told us and a quick analysis of the vials in the cart, I believed she drank a combat drug: the red-eye. It is brewed specially for mages, but it's so potent its use is reserved for the army. I believe her state comes not from the drug itself, but from the concentration. What she drank was the substance that would be diluted later in the potions. In short, it would be as if she drank pure alcohol instead of beer or wine. Such an sudden influx of mana in her body-"

"Cut to the chase, healer. Will she recover?"

"Yes she will, but I cannot be completely sure. Damages done by magic are not healed the same way that damages done by physical means are. She could be on her feet tomorrow, just as she could be unconscious for months. Further analysis will require her to be brought to an hospital or a temple."

Armant's worries deepened. If Erina was not brought quickly to a healing institution there was a possibility that her state would worsen. He would have to deal quickly with lord Beras' treason then bring her to the capital where she would be treated.

He bid farewell to the healer before joining Robard who was organizing his men. Armant then told about the captain that opened the main gate for him when he left the town, this greatly relieved Robard who was preparing for a full-on siege. Street fighting was vicious, but not as much as running to the walls whilst under a rain of deadly projectiles.

Armant was given a crossbow and a quiver of bolts, then the army marched to the town.

* * *

The gates were closed, with no sign of activity. This worried Armant. The sun had risen for a good amount of time now and peasants should be toiling in the fields already. He walked to the gate, followed by Robard and five soldiers with enchanted shields, ready to cover him should anything be shot in his direction.

The captain stepped forward and shouted.

"In the name of Crown, open the gate right now!"

They waited for a minute before a head peeked out from the battlements above the gate.

"Lord Beras has ordered a city-wide lockdown!"

"And the Prince Armant Electra of the royal family is ordering to open the gates!"

"But…"

The man looked clearly lost. On one hand he had a member of the royal family directly ordering him to open the gates, but on the other hand he had the lord ordering that under no circumstance, no matter who it was no one could enter or leave the town.

His predicament was resolved when a man with an impressive mustache grabbed him by the shoulder and told him to stand down. Armant recognized him as the man who let him out a few hours ago.

"We will open the gate right now! Please forgive my soldier's insubordination, your highness!"

The wooden construction creaked as it opened, leaving the captain of the guard to advance to meet Armant and his delegation.

"It is good to see you are alright, your highness. Before you enter, I must inform you of something. A While you were out, we have been betrayed be Beras and his henchmen. Out of the five captains of the guard, only me and another one stayed loyal. We suffered minimal casualties so we decided to split up. He joined the judge's fort to sway them against the lord, while I had to take this battlement and open the gate to potential reinforcements. I'm glad you came this soon…"

While the captain talked, Robard had ordered his men to enter into the city. After that, he faced the captain and asked.

"How many men do you have, and how many are in the lord's pockets?"

The captain took a moment to think before answering.

"I have about thirty survivors under my command, the other captain who went to help the judges should have maybe fourty? Combined, the three captains under the lord's command should have about one hundred and twenty. But I also saw shadowy figures when I was leaving. To be honest, they looked more like thugs than proper soldiers, but there was a lot of them. There were also a few women in red armor…"

The last addition tensed Armant. The Sisters of the Shroud were few, but their battle prowess was said to be quite high. Armant's experience just the night before was enough proof.

"What about the citizen, captain? Are they alright?"

"Most of them have locked their door and are in hiding… Lord Beras didn't give any order regarding them so they should be safe as long as they don't intervene."

It was a relief for Armant. If the citizenry was kept out of the bulk of the likely battle that was to come then he wouldn't have to deal with unnecessary deaths. After thanking the captain for the information, Armant followed Robard who was leading his troupe towards the Judge's fort.

Upon reaching it, they discovered it to be empty. At least on the outside, the battlements of the small fort were empty and the only show of life was an occasional flash of grey light coming through the arrow slits. In front of the closed gate, they met the second captain that had been mentioned. Talking with him bore no results as he was clueless as to what was happening. Armant did have a hunch though thanks to what Gerey had told him. It was only ten minutes later that someone came to meet them.

The gate was opened, and an old man came through it. Armant recognized him as Aldwurg, the old judge who had initially searched Erina's room to find clues. The robe weighting on his frail body seemed to weight him down even more than usual and the cloth was ripped at multiple places.

"Your highness, I must say I am surprised to meet you here. These are some dire circumstances we are in."

"Indeed they are, judge Aldwurg. I will cut to the chase, I know who turned the judges on one another. And I know how he did it. I require your aid in dispensing justice to these criminals."

Despite the weariness that came with age, a light of cold anger shined in the judge's eyes.

"Do you, your highness?"

Armant showed him the letters he had snatched from Gerey before leaving the town. The judge grabbed them with his old hands and read the content. Armant could see his fists contracting as he progressed, so much that his knuckles turned white and the paper wrinkled. When he finished; his arms dropped alongside his body and a weary sigh escaped his lips.

"So it would seem that Lord Beras has estimated that deals with the _Sons of the night_ \- He practically spat that organization's name out of disgust- would go unnoticed and thought lightly of justice…"

"It is not all. He has helped in the kidnapping of my sister, Erina Electra, daughter of the king. I had to save her and she will be able to swear testimony and tell what happened."

A grave expression settled on the judge's face.

"Then now is time to dispense justice. I will gather the remaining law corps and we shall march with you, your highness. Give me a few minutes."

While the old man gathered his comrades, Robard ordered his men to march to the lord's mansion. It didn't take long for the judge to come back, followed by what remained of the law enforcement members. Aldwurg was followed by three younger judges and a company of thirty executioners. All of them seemed battered by the recent fight but it didn't worry Armant. Executioners could be compared to paladins, in the way that they can cast strong debilitating buffs on their enemies, while their skill rivalled a knight's if not more. Judges were powerful in their own right as magic casters. While they mainly focused on detection and illusion spells to search for clues, they could cast devastating magic on those who were on the wrong side of the law.

Followed by those and Robard, Armant made his way to the lord's mansion. Robard's company had stopped in front of the closed portcullis, so he walked up to the gates and shouted.

"In the name of the crown, open right this instant!"

There was no answer. However, Beras showed himself after a bit of waiting. Armant noted that there were no town guards with him. He was followed by a group of people in red armor, which Armant quickly recognized as the Sisters of the Shroud. Another larger group followed after. Mismatched weaponry, ragged armors and no discipline, it was obvious they were all the members of the Sons of the Night of the town, if not of the region. However, they seemed incredibly out of place. Compared to the stern looks and proper formations of the soldiers Robard had brought, it was obvious all these criminals were used to scaring defenceless merchants and raiding innocent villages. They had no place on a battlefield and they knew it very well. Beras walked forward just before the closed portcullis, followed by a sister and a scared bandit.

"You bring an army to greet me, your majesty! I am flattered, truly!"

"The same can be said of you, Beras. Who are these people by your side? Where are the town guards?"

The Lord waved the question away, refusing to answer.

"I have with me Captain Robard of the Black iron fort, his retinue and all the judges necessary to apply justice. Judge Aldwurg, if you will…"

Aldwurg stepped forward, followed by an executioner ready to draw his mace.

"Lord Felardo Beras, son of Thilas Beras and owner of the town of Taleah. You are accused of high treason, implication in the kidnapping of the princess Erina Electra, offense to the crown, collusion with organized crime, fraud and premeditated murder. Furthermore, your refusal to comply to law will only worsen your condition. Surrender immediately to any force of law and you shall be trialed in accordance to the Book of Law. Should you resist, we will require any aid necessary to bring you under the iron fist of justice."

Felardo kept silent during the monologue and simply snickered at the end.

"My fate is already sealed isn't it? I know I'm going to be executed. Why should I cower like a dog and present my neck for the chopping? I'd rather die fighting than being executed honorlessly, judge."

Aldwurg kept a stone face. He was currently delivering justice, and no personal emotion could sway his judgement.

"Indeed, the amount of crimes you committed are too much for you to deserve anything but the death sentence. However!"

Felardo's smug smile disappeared.

"Should you comply to the law's demands and even more, provide us with informations about other wrongdoers, your sentence may be lightened. Things such as your family keeping its social status may be considered."

The lord behind the portcullis had now an unreadable expression. In the end, Felardo was still a father and a noble. He was already screwed up anyway, if he could maintain his family's honor and safety, then it wasn't that bad of a deal.

After a long minute of conflicting ideas, a decision was taken.

"I am not the mastermind behind all of this."

Aldwurg raised an eyebrow.

"Say again?"

"The one who ordered me to do all of this was LoraaAAAAAAAArrrgghh…"

His words turned into a gargled cry mid-sentence. The sister behind Beras had stabbed deeply her falchion in the lord's back. Then, she took out the weapon, and stabbed again. And again. And again. Until the former lord stopped breathing. She looked coldly at the unmoving body.

"We can't have you spilling out all of our secrets, do we?"

Armant unsheathed his sword, he knew what was to come. With the sisters trapped in the lord's mansion and a whole troupe of hardened soldiers in front of them, there was a single outcome possible.

"Melkar bless this holy day! For today, your daughters shall partake in a bloody sacrament! **[Totem of slaughter]!** "

She raised her hands and a totem formed from Beras' bloody body. It was made of bones, a meter high and oozed with blood. Robard's bowmen had already started raining arrows to cover Armant's, Robard's and Aldwurg's retreat, but she didn't care. All of the non-enchanted arrows simply bounced off her armor. On the other hand, the many thugs and criminals that were standing in the back seemed suddenly enraged and charged wildly against Robard's men, only slowing down a few seconds to open the portcullis. It wasn't even totally opened before men crouched to pass in the interstice. The arrows and spell launched at them indiscriminately mowed them down, but didn't affect their morale. This behaviour puzzled Armant until he noticed a similar aura was coming from Robard's men. They grinned, a savage light shining in their eyes, expecting the fight but their discipline kept them from breaking the ranks.

"Are… Are you alright, your highness?"

Armant faced Robard, who was holding his two-handed sword and smiled sinisterly. The cause for this aura wasn't that hard to find out.

"Alwurg, cast calming spells on our troops. We can't have them participate in a mindless slaughter."

"Of course, your highness."

The judge who had managed to keep a cool head started to cast spells to dispel the malicious aura followed by his three comrades. The executioners on the other hand were practically impervious to such spells and stood neatly arranged, ready to fight at any order.

Robard's men were formed of three units. Two units of twenty-five soldiers each armed with halberds, forming a tight line between two houses. Behind them, a unit of thirty archers rained arrows in the middle of the bandits. On each side of the archers, two groups of four war wizards cast devastating spells on the enemy and buffs on the allied troops. The five healers that didn't stay in the camp to heal Erina were assigned to each unit and were ready to cast heals and blessings at any moment.

Armant and Robard were protected by ten elite soldiers in heavy armor and two war wizards. Beside them, the thirty executioners and the four judges were kept as a backup. The twenty light cavalrymen had been sent on scouting missions throughout the town, mainly to find where all the guards that should have been with Beras had went. If they were to be attacked in the back, despite Robard's men's experience it would be very hard to win the battle.

The wave or roaring bandits crashed on the halberd-wielding men. The soldiers, used to fighting ogre, bandit groups, even sometime yetis and scarier monsters didn't even flinch and orderly fought back. The lack of equipment combined with the lack of training made the bandits easy preys and they fell in large numbers. Armant could see that some of the sisters had joined the melee and were using the bandits quite cleverly. They hid among the crowd, only to flash in front of a soldier, quickly exchange some hits and hid back into the crowd before they could be focused on by the soldiers. He could see that a few soldiers had already fallen to the brutality of their attack and that worried him. Robard's soldiers were largely outnumbered and each one of them counted in the balance of the battle.

Armant could see the faces of the civilians in the nearby houses through the windows, but he didn't have time to care about them because of an evolution in the battlefield. The seemingly endless waves of bandits coming through the portcullis had finally stopped and were all gathered in front of the soldiers, trying desperately to reach the fight. The ones in the back had taken the alleyways between the houses to circumvent the thick of the fight, only to appear at Armant's left and right.

At the sight of the first few bandits on the flanks, Robard ordered the executioners to split into two groups of fifteen on each side to close the street. The law corps barely formed a line before the flanking bandits came into contact. Executioners and Judges were powerful but few. They contained the line, but barely. It was only thanks to the two judges on each side providing powerful support that they didn't get stomped by the numbers.

The battle could still go both ways, but the balance slowly tipped in Armant's favor. The bandits were slowly but surely thinned out and the sisters couldn't make enough casualties. If they didn't kill a soldier immediately, he would be healed by the clerics and join the fight anew.

A scream on the left flank caught Armant's attention. He saw with horror as five executioners got literally butchered by a large number of sisters. Facing the frontline again, the reality of the situation struck him. The sisters had split! Out of the thirty or so he had counted at the beginning, twenty of them had flanked and were breaking apart the left flank, despite the judge's and executioner's most righteous fury.

Three sisters broke apart from the fighting and ran in his direction. Robard didn't lose any time and grabbed his two-handed sword. Ordering the elite guards and two mages to support him, he charged the three. The first he encountered didn't expect her sword to bounce back from the enchanted armor and got skewered by Robard's feint. He raised the sword in the air and decapitated the wounded sister. The second sister took an **[Acid bolt]** to the face and her right arm was cut by **[Wind blade]**. The third sister got surrounded by the ten elite guards and quickly put to the blade.

This action only took a few seconds to happen, but in this time span two more executioners on the left flank had fallen, leaving only eight of them and two judges to deal with a horde of furious bandits and more than fifteen sisters. The arrival of Robard bringing much needed reinforcements tilted the balance of the fight on the left flank just a little bit on Armant's favor, but they were still vastly outnumbered.

Left alone, Armant focused on the factors of the battle. What gave the bandits and the sisters advantage? Number. He had to find a way to thin their number, and quickly. It was a shame Erina wasn't there, he was sure she would have been able to. His mind wandered into his memories, bringing back memories of strategy lessons.

 _In a large room, a map was displayed on a table. On it, various wooden shapes symbolising troops and war machines were laid. Despite Armant's large number of troops, the favor was hopelessly against him. The old general in front of him sighed and explained with patience to the hyperactive child._

" _No my prince, even with your three hundred men you will lose against my fifty men. The reason why? You didn't take into account morale. Yes, your fifty conscripts should have won against my ten knights on the right flank, but at the rate of casualties they're taking they're not going to continue fighting. A man cannot fight at full capacity if he has just seen five or six of his comrades slaughtered like nothing."_

 _The child tried to focus on the situation at hand, but nothing came into his mind._

" _What can I do then, mister Paralo?"_

 _The general smiled at the innocent tongue slip._

" _It's Praldo, my prince. There is no saving method at this point. I would suggest…"_

The memory faded away for Armant to refocus at the task at hand. Yes, morale. He needed to break the enemy's morale. And that couldn't be done until he got rid of the totem the sisters had summoned.

Robard's aid to the left flank would a much needed relief for Armant to deal with it. He took aim with the crossbow he had been given. Activated [Eagle eye] and [Sure shot] and observed his target. The totem itself wasn't that big but it was formed by a cluster of bones all entangled together. The only weak spot he could see was a place where three bones placed vertically supported the entire upper structure.

The first bolt flew true, but bounced off the side. Armant cursed. Had he his own engineered crossbow with him, it would already be over. He glanced to the side, and saw that despite Robard's reinforcements the line was slowly but surely taken over. He had little time left.

Taking aim again, he aimed at the base of the bones, intent on breaking what held them together. A bead of sweat obscured his vision, and he wiped it before shooting the crossbow. This time, the bolt missed the totem by a few centimeters.

This wasn't good, he was so nervous his aim was being affected despite the martial arts. Reloading the weapon, he looked to the side. A few bandits and a sister had broken off the fight and were running in his direction. He still had a few seconds before they came into contact. Enough for a last shot.

Shutting off the outside world, he aimed carefully and shot one last time. This time, the bolt hit exactly where he wanted, at the base of the three bones. The totem tilted, but didn't break. Armant didn't wait anymore and unsheathed his short sword. Strength infused his arms as the enchantment activated and he looked at his opponents. Two bandits and a sister came first, with more coming.

One of them (armed with a sledgehammer which looked more like a tool than a proper weapon) brought his weapon down in a wild effort. Armant nimbly avoided to the side and thrusted his blade into the man's unguarded belly. He didn't get time to confirm the kill as a fiery falchion missed his head and an axe bit into the corpse Armant had just stabbed. The sister groaned in frustration and freed her weapons, while the second bandit hit Armant with a wooden club. The crude weapon didn't wound him, but it hurt quite a bit.

Armant grabbed the man's arm with his free hand and pulled him. As the bandit fell, Armant's blade gutted him to death.

The sister once again attacked, bringing her weapons from two different sides. He parried the falchion and hoped that his dragon leather armor would hold on. It did. The axe didn't pierce through and Armant retreated a few steps. His breathing was already getting louder, and he could see more and more bandits and sisters seeping through the nearly broken left flank. Three more bandits joined the sister in an effort to bring him down.

Most of them had cuts, bruises and more serious wounds but it was as if they didn't feel pain. The sister attacked first, sweeping her weapons. Armant sidestepped, but another bandit grabbed his left arm and pulled him. Destabilized, he fell to the ground and immediately rolled, avoiding a spear which shattered against the pavement. Falling down on a battlefield was a guaranteed death, he had to get up

But he was kicked in the guts and the sharp pain almost made him vomit. He saw a cruel glint through the sister's eye slits as she raised her weapons and…

A flurry of arrows mowed the bandits around Armant, sending at least half to the ground and the other half bleeding heavily. Even the sister groaned out of pain before taking out the one that had lodged itself in a gap in her armor.

"Come on, men! For the crown!"

"FOR THE CROWN!"

The archers that were originally to shoot at the bandits on the frontlines all roared as one and charged into the melee, saving Armant from a certain death.

These were not men used to melee combat. They were not heavily armored. All they had was a padded vest, maybe a chainmail for the sergeant, a short sword and that was all. Granted, it would be enough against the bandits' crude weaponry, but it was an act of incredible bravery. An act that warmed Armant's heart.

The sergeant offered his arm and Armant grabbed it to get up.

"We're here, your highness. Do what you can to stop this madness, we can give you a little bit of time…"

Armant smiled in return.

"I will remember that, sergeant?"

The man saluted.

"Sergeant Edwan Kipeh to serve you, your highness!"

Just after saluting, Edwan barked an order before joining his men into the melee. Intent on using to the fullest the precious time the archers were buying him, Armant retrieved the crossbow and aimed carefully.

The trigger was pulled. The string released all of its power into the bolt. The bolt flew in the air. The totem was hit. The already weakened magic holding the bones together broke. The bones fell harmlessly to the ground as they returned to their state of normal human bone, and the magic dissipated.

The results came immediately. After a few seconds, the cries of rage and senseless murder started being replaced by cries of pain and suffering. Ten seconds more, and the bandits started realizing they were being massacred by the dozen. And it only took a few more seconds for the first ones to flee, quickly followed by a terrified crowd.

After the executioners on the right flank made sure that no one would come back, they ran to the left flank to help Robard, his men and the few surviving executioners.

The Sisters still battling realized the lack of meatshields but kept on fighting, providing at least a few of their comrades enough time to flee. Out of the original thirty, only four sisters managed to flee from the fight, using the narrow alleyways to their advantage.

Armant watched their back disappear with a disappointed expression. It would have been a golden occasion to get rid of them! Despite the missed occasion, Armant looked at the state of the company.

The frontline was fine, despite them taking the brunt of the assault they had only taken eleven casualties at the hands of the sisters. The archer's act of senseless bravery had certainly saved Armant, but three men had paid it with their lives, while eleven more had gotten more or less wounded.

The executioners on the right flank was nearly untouched, but it was the left flank that had suffered the most. Out of the fifteen original executioners, only three had survived thanks to Robard's aid.

The captain himself was fine, he had taken a lot of hits but his mastery of the blade combined with his enchanted armor had ensured his safety perfectly.

After confirming that, Armant allowed himself to smile.

The first part of the problem was dealt with. Now, to find that mysterious master behind the orders.

* * *

 _HFZDZAJ DRJ BTRFX.  
WJXN DRJ VJDDJA N WJXD DTZ JFAVNJA DT DRJ LTD.  
HFAJPZV, RJ'W WRFAD._

 _NJAZV._

Armant read the paper, over and over again. He could make little sense of it. It was a coded message, that much he could see, but it would be hard to decrypt without the right knowledge.

Sighing, he put the wrinkled paper down and looked by the window of the carriage he was in. A gust of wind was abusing a flock of birds trying to stay stable and the heavy clouds covering the sky seemed intent on forcing them onto the ground. In front of him, an unconscious Erina was lightly snoring.

The carriage itself was obviously built with looks in mind rather than comfort. The velvet on the seats did little to keep the uneven road from rocking its passengers, but Armant was happy with it. It was that or a merchant cart.

After the victory in Taleah, Armant had wasted no time and had ordered for a carriage to be prepared for him and Erina. She needed to be overlooked by a specialized healer, and the sooner it was the better.

Just before they left, one of the servants of the manor had come running and gave a stack of letters neatly kept together in a leather pouch, claiming he had seen former lord Beras trying to hide them. Armant rewarded him with a few coins before ordering the coachman to go to the nearby city of Fesor.

Well, this "nearby" city was still a week and three days of travel far, but it was the closest city that had a teleport gate and hadn't shut it down yet. After all, after the demonic incursion everyone had realized how dangerous it was to keep a portal open like that permanently, be it noble or commoner. The few cities that hadn't closed it yet were experiencing heavy riots by the populace who didn't want to live near those things. The city's portal was still up if the merchant who gave the information was to be believed and Armant could only hope they wouldn't shut it off during his travel.

Focusing back on the task at hand, he looked at the letter once more. Maybe he hoped for a sudden bright idea, but none came.

Then, what of the remaining clues? Before getting stabbed, Felardo Beras had mentioned that he wasn't the mastermind behind this. Armant could still remember his last words: _"The one who ordered me to do all of this was Loraa…"._

For someone to order a noble meant that person was either of a higher rank, or had a way to pressure the noble in question. Either "Loraa" was the beginning of a name, either Felardo wanted to say "Lord" followed by the name.

Officially, nobles all benefit from the same status. But reality is far from that of course. In the Ridan society, ten noble families have more land, more riches and more influence than the others. The current head of each family being Baron Delvo, Count Marsh, Baroness Restra, Lord Lesym, Lord Wulfa, Lore Tezio, Lore Sige, Countess Boley, Lord Acan and Lord Cuthel.

If Felardo meant to say the name of a lord, then Armant would already ignore all Barons and Counts. These titles didn't give any advantage, but rather symbolized close ties to the royal family. He could also ignore all the minor nobles. Thanks to the rather fantastic noble stubbornness, it was very unlikely Beras was being ordered by someone of similar rank or less.

Out of the six remaining, Lord Lesym was the least likely to be the traitor. He was a good man who cared for his land just like he cared for his family. Armant had knew him since his childhood and he couldn't believe that the one he considered his unofficial uncle would do that.

Lord Tezio was a practical man. While not really present in politics, he held the country's army by an iron fist thanks to him being the owner of the city of Draaks. There, rich mines of various metals gave the man an enormous wealth as well as the ability the paralyze the country's army if he stopped supplying it. Ores could be dug out in other mines, but none could reach the cheap prices as well as the extraction speed of Draaks. Armant couldn't really see what advantage the lord would gain from treason. He had wealth, status and territory.

Lord Wulfa was a powerful mage, maybe he had something to gain if Erina was in his palm? Knowledge? Magic items? No… He was one of the few magic users in the country Erina still couldn't beat in a magic duel. He would gain nothing from controlling someone weaker than him. Or would he? Erina could cast spells of a tier higher than he could, but his experience along with his wider range of known spells gave him the advantage. Maybe he wanted to do something to steal that ability and grow more powerful? Armant would have to ask her once she wakes up.

Lord Acan was a traitor, known to sell information to the highest bidder. The reason he was left to do so was because the king's spy could control what sensible information could escape the country by feeding him whatever information they wanted to be spread. The royal family in its entirety knew for a fact that the three dwarven city-states living in the mountains surrounding Rida were one of the buyers, but there were others still to discover. Armant didn't think Acan was the mastermind. Acan was an information dealer, his best source of wealth would disappear if he was found out. He wouldn't risk it all.

Armant had reasons to think Lord Sige was the traitor. After all, he had vehemently opposed the king on multiple occasions, believing his vision of the country was the best one. He was a warmonger, and a supremacist of the human race. His vision was one where all other races would be wiped out, only to leave the human race to dominate the continent, and he had made sure to confirm that to the king and in front of all the nobles on multiple occasions. If Erina had been kidnapped and used against Armant as a hostage, then maybe Armant would have been forced to step down from the race to the throne. And maybe forced the king to choose Sige as the next king. Who knew? But at least it gave Armant a base from where to search.

The last one, Lord Cuthel, was kind of a mystery. He was known to be particularly cunning, more than most of the people. Even the woman in charge of the king's spy organization had to admit he outwitted her sometimes. They had gotten clues multiple times of a supposed criminal activity in the territory owned by Cuthel, but each time the building they were supposed to investigate was burnt to the ground with no possibility of recovery. At other times, it was a secret meeting that was found out too late, its content forever unknown. There were good reasons to believe Cuthel was a traitor even before all the happenings with Felardo Beras, but there was no way to know if he was actually the person who had orchestrated all of that. Armant decided to put him on the suspect list.

Sighing, Armant looked by the window once again. The rain had finally decided to fall from the heavy clouds, the birds from before nowhere to be seen. Maybe they had been forced to the ground? He hoped it wasn't a bad premonition.

Sighing one last time, he prepared an empty sheet of paper, a quill and focused back on the paper. He would have a lot of time to decrypt the message.

* * *

It was only four days later that something noteworthy happened. While he was scribbling on pieces of paper, trying various known codes, Erina finally opened her eyes.

Armant didn't notice it at first, focused on the mysterious message as he was, and only realized it when a groan of pain escaped her lips.

"Erina!"

He immediately dropped the quill, pushed the papers aside and came close to her. She was visibly in pain.

"Can't… Move…"

She stopped forcing on her muscles and fell limply in her seat. Armant couldn't repress a smile forming on his lips and helped her find a more comfortable position.

"How are you doing Erina?"

Seeing that her brother was fine, an equally bright smile formed on her lips.

"I see that… You own me one… Armant."

Armant chuckled, reassured that she didn't seem to forget anything.

"Indeed I do, you saved my life back there. But you know what? I think I saved yours too."

She looked around, then on her body and noticed the lack of wounds.

"Then… We're back to… The starting point… It seems…"

Her speech was obviously lacking fluidity, result of her near-death experience. Her lungs were still burning a bit with each inhalation but it was bearable. After making sure that she was in a somewhat stable state, Armant helped her to drink a little bit of water then told her of what happened the last few days, and what he had been working on in the carriage since the beginning of the trip.

At the end, her eyes had a sinister shine in them.

"So you think one of the Great Nobles has done this to become the next king?"

"Yes. If you or me are held hostage, then father would have no choice but to choose who he's told to. You know how he is…"

A gentle smile crept on Erina's face, softening her expression.

"Yes, I know. Be it as a king or a father, he's too good for his own..."

And her face steeled, showing her resolve.

"And that's why we must protect the kingdom. We're royalty, after all. For a first, I think we should go into the capital incognito."

Armant shot her a curious glare, to which Erina answered.

"It's a plot designed to take over the whole kingdom. We have to consider that we have no allies. No fool would plan something so grand without making sure that everything is in his favor. Even father and mother must be kept in the dark. There's no way they're not being spied on, despite the king's agents' best efforts."

"Alright, I can't argue that. Let's work on these letters now, should we? We still have two or three days before we reach our destination."

And so, during the last days of the trip, all the time was spent trying to decipher the text. From the most complicated to the simplest children's codes, they tried everything. Both using their knowledge of such matters and their wits, they deciphered it a few hours ago before reaching Fesor. The translated message Armant had found first read as:

 _Capture the woman._

 _Send the letter I sent you earlier to the boy._

 _Careful, he's smart._

 _Derul._

It was with this newfound knowledge that the carriage used Fesor's teleport gate and prepared for a lengthy investigation. With both wits and brawns, maybe they would uncover this felony that was plaguing the country.

* * *

In Nazarick, Demiurge was ecstatic. For once, he had come just a little closer to understanding his master's plan. When Lord Ainz had ordered to retire all the personnel that had been sent in Rida, Demiurge had become confused for once in a long time.

With the threat of a possible players out there attacking Nazarick and the fact that all the shadow demons had died simultaneously reinforcing that idea, it made sense. But then, why not send higher levelled monsters specialized in infiltration? Even contracted mercenaries from Ashurbanipal would rather kill themselves before spilling any information. It would even permit them to estimate the general level of their enemy and prepare accordingly.

He had asked his master for clarification, but only received the same answer about security. Demiurge knew that lord Ainz was not telling the complete truth. Like a lot of times, he only said a part of the truth, letting his servants to discover the rest by themselves, allowing them to improve. Such a show of faith from his master had warmed Demiurge's heart. Since then, he had been working in the reasons as to why retire completely.

The answer had come only recently. There was no reason to keep forces in there! The seeds of discordance had been already planted, they only had to wait for them to grow. And when that would happen, it would only be a matter of time before the Enemy makes an error, allowing Nazarick to take over. Even more, by leaving the region the enemy would think that nothing harmful is left in Rida, allowing the discordance to grow unhindered.

Such a simple plan, yet in that simplicity it held elegance. Like a farmer reaping his crops, all Nazarick would have to do would be watching from afar and reaping the fruits of their labor when the time comes. If infinity could be added to, Demiurge's respect for his master would have grown even more.

Now, while he had been thinking about this, he had not stopped working for Lord Ainz's safety. Thanks to Albedo's help, he had managed to find a way to mark the mysterious assassin that had been killing Nazarick's patrols for weeks now.

In the room of Nazarick he was in, Albedo was seated in front of him in a luxurious couch. On the table between them, a table with a map of the neighboring geography, a light blue spot on it indicating the location of the mysterious assassin. Thanks to an ingenious gas that was both odorless and colorless, marked with a magic strong enough to supplant up to eight-tier protection from poison, the assassin didn't even notice anything out of the ordinary.

He had just killed another worthless patrol of naturally spawned undead, only to walk away in the direction of the Arzelisia mountain range.

"Say, Albedo…"

The overseer shifter her attention from the map to Demiurge.

"Why do you think that assassin has only killed a single patrol a day?"

She stayed silent for a moment before she answered.  
" I think that filth has received orders. If he was doing it in order to harm Nazarick, he would have been much more aggressive."

Demiurge nodded. He had come to the similar conclusion a few days ago.

"And since he has received orders, what we will attack will not be a main base, but rather an outpost for Lord Ainz's enemy. I also think we should attack it with a strong force, in order to show our resolve. To show that filth that one does not attack Lord Ainz's territory without consequence."

"Oh? Wouldn't it be better to make ourselves look weaker in order to lure the enemy into a trap? Haven't you read Lord Punnito Moe's "Anyone can easily PK"?"

A somewhat embarrassed expression settled on Albedo's face.

"I am afraid I didn't yet. Being the overseer is a lot of work and I have little time to read. But while your reasoning holds good points Demiurge, would you allow Lord Ainz's territory to be dirtied by… Filthy lowlives?"

Demiurge raised his arms in a surrendering manner.

"Of course I wouldn't. Lord Ainz is the only one allowed to rule these lands and any attempt to ruin it deserves at least two thousand years of torture under Neuronist. We should ask Lord Ainz for counsel once the matter of the assassin's base location has been dealt with."

Albedo nodded, and as there was nothing more to be said, both shifted their attention on the map where the dot was moving deeper and deeper into the mountains. The excitation of delivering punishment to Lord Ainz's enemy reached a climax when the dot stopped moving, both guardians looking each other in understanding and starting to plan the assault.

* * *

 **Happy spooktober everyone!**

 **Since I started my new year at university it took me a bit more time to release that chapter. I apologize for that and hope you are still entertained by my work.**

 **If you have anything to say, be it liking or disliking don't hesitate to comment, comments are the only way for an author to get a wide feedback, and also it's extremely rewarding seeing people appreciating one's work. You have no idea. As usual, I answer to every question by PM.**

 **Not much more to say, so see you next publication!**


	22. Chapter 21: A two-sided conspiracy

Thankfully, the teleport gate in Fesor was still active, although guards had been placed in front of it to defend from the rioters. After paying the toll (which had been raised tremendously), the carriage was sent along with its occupiers to Riyal, the capital.

It had been only a few months since last time, but with so much happening in between it felt like an eternity for Armant. The familiar sight of paved roads, beautiful buildings, magical lights and bustling streets soothed his mind, allowing him to relax despite the daunting task to come.

Robard had sent ten knights to escort the carriage, but with secrecy in mind all of them had been sent back to Robard, leaving only Erina, Armant and the driver of the carriage.

As soon as lodging was secured in a remarkably common inn of the middle-class district, Armant's first reflex was to go to a temple. A hospital could also be a good idea, but with the wounds Erina had he needed a magic that was known to work, not an experimental method.

The inn had been chosen not only because of its lack of distinct feature, but also because it was near a church of Ciela, the goddess of sky and space. The believers of Ciela all wore a hood and a white cloth on their face, only leaving two holes to see. The reason was probably something deeply mystical or philosophical, but that didn't matter to Armant. What mattered however was that he could hide his face without looking suspicious, and that this church in particular was known to house a prodigy who could harness the power of the stars to accomplish many tasks, hopefully healing being one of them.

Putting on a white hood and a piece of cloth covering the face, he walked up to the temple and looked around. Many believers were talking to each other, all with their face covered. Some were obviously poor, some wore ostentatious clothes, some were armed and wore a full-faced helmet. The church in itself was a decently sized building, comprising of the main praying area and of a building in the back to house all the priests working here.

With his adventuring gear still on and his masked face, Armant passed the front doors without interruption. The priests could predict somewhat the future when given compensation, and it wasn't rare for a rich mercenary or soldier to ask about his future. If he was to outlive a battle, then it was fine. If he was to die in a battle, then he would fight all the harder to overthrow fate. In some way, Armant could be said to be in a battle. A battle for the fate of his beloved home country, but a battle in the shadows.

"How may the church of Ciela help you today?"

As soon as he passed the doors, a relatively young priestess immediately addressed him.

"I have a relative of mine back home who can't move, I need someone to go heal her. Oh, and also, I heard that there was a talented priest residing here. Could I meet him?"

She frowned.

"I am afraid that brother Silsem cannot meet every person that asks to meet him, mister. His obligations to Ciela are quite time-consuming and his devotion has no equal."

Armant signalled her to come closer, then whispered.

"I _really_ need to meet brother Silsem. Oh, and I am also _really_ generous with my donations to the church."

Unfortunately, it wasn't the right approach. The priestess was offended more than anything and sounded a little bit angry.

"I do not know who you are, mister, but Ciela loves all of her believers. She doesn't take care more of one believer than another. If you were a true believer, then you would have known that. Now, please get-"

"Sister Cily, go back to your duties. I will take care of that man."

Armant looked at the woman who interrupted the sister he was talking just before. She sounded older, and her more elaborate robe signified someone of higher rank.

"B-but sister Efril! That man both insulted our goddess and our-"

"I repeat, I will take care of that man."

The priestess named Cily seemed to pout, then went back to greet another person that just entered. Meanwhile, Armant watched as sister Efril faced him.

"Brother Silsem has asked for your presence. Please follow me."

Pleasantly surprised by that turn of event, Armant nodded and followed her as she left the main church to that other building in the back. While they walked, the sister told Armant of the right code of conduct to have.

"It is a great honor to meet brother Silsem. Do not insult him or our goddess in front of him or you shall be immediately kicked out. If it were me, you would be already. Trying to bribe your way in? Do you know how many have tried that? Keep in mind that it is only, and I repeat, _only_ thanks to him that you are allowed in."

After entering the back building and leading Armant to a simple door, the woman left. He knocked on the door and entered when a voice answered. The room was quite luxurious. A giant tapestry covering most of the walls representing a map of the constellations, a comfy-looking bed in a corner, a small shrine in the middle and a man seated in front of it.

Armant waited patiently until the man finished his prayers. He wore a luxurious robe, a white hood and an elaborate mask hiding his features. After a while, the man got up and invited Armant to seat at a small table he hadn't seen before. The man sat in front of Armant, then extended his hand, allowing Armant to shake it.

"It is always a pleasure to meet someone so dedicated to the worship of Ciela, as dubious as his methods are. You can call me Brother Silsem."

A tinge of shame took hold of Armant.

"My name is Amran. Believe me, I wouldn't have behaved that way if I had the choice, brother Silsem. That being said, I apologize."

"It is not to me who you should apologize, but to our goddess. May I ask what brings you to me?"

Armant took on a cautious approach. He still didn't know who was his ally and his enemy at the capital.

"I have a relative of mine wounded at the inn not far from there. She's a mage, and one of her experimentations didn't go well. From what she told me, her body had to endure a much larger amount of magic power than it normally should. It happened a little more than a week ago, but she's still very much wounded. Speaking hurts her lungs, she can barely move and even less stand up. I was hoping to receive aid from this temple…"

The man took a moment to think, rubbing the polished surface of his mask.

"That indeed seems like the symptoms of an overconsumption of mana. And you came to us because you need discretion."

Armant panicked.

"No! It's not what it-"

Simsel raised a gloved hand, interrupting Armant.

"Do not worry. It is a shame that the teaching of our goddess is used that way, but it is a reality we cannot ignore. We are faceless, our believers are faceless, and we consider everyone equally. It should be expected that this behaviour would attract good and bad people alike, but I consider it a trial from Ciela."

Both of them stayed silent. Armant because it seemed like Simsel didn't have anything to add, while the archpriest put his elbows on the table, then rested his head on his crossed hands.

"To be honest Amran, I asked you to see me for a particular reason. You see, Ciela is the goddess who each night lights up the sky. She arranges the planets and the stars to her liking. And in this arrangement, her will is written. It is how we of the Ciela cult decide of our actions. By reading her will, we worship her. And last night, I read a strange message. I believe it is destined to you. Would you like to receive it as well?"

Armant frowned. The art of divining was a strange one, and the future wasn't always set in stone. Many generals had been divined a victory, only to grow overconfident and suffer a crushing defeat. If anything, it would be more accurate to say that divining is the art of predicting the most predictable outcome. Many street "diviners" were nothing more than charlatans, some used spells, some used weird rituals, some diviners even used mathematics. The "true" diviners were few, and even for those the predictions weren't always right.

And receiving a divining was sometimes the cause of its own being. Many times during his education, Armant had been reminded of it, the most common example being that of the careless peasant. The story told about a peasant being predicted his death tomorrow. The peasant would work all night on preparing for the next day, and then leave in the morning to work in the fields. During the whole day, he would watch for bandits, monsters, anything that might threaten his life. On his way back home, exhausted from the lack of sleep and his constant watch he wouldn't see the small mouse hole on the road. Tripping, he would fall on a rock and break his spine. Morale of the story: the peasant wouldn't have died if he had behaved as usual.

For those reasons, Armant was quite reluctant to diviners and anything they had to say. But at the same time, he was in the dark right now. All he had for information was the name "Derul", a few suspects, a few tidbits of information taken from all the letters he had translated with Erina's help to stop a plot designed to take over the kingdom. A little more information would help, and by the looks of it brother Simsel was a genuine diviner.

"Yes, I would like to know."

Simsel nodded, then spoke in a loud, grave voice.

"On the tenth day of its returning,

The white flower with a broken body shall send a messenger.

With a rude behaviour but a pure heart,

He will come onto this temple.

His fate intertwined with everyone's

His body and soul in danger,

Under the watchful eye of those down-under,

He shall look for those marked by the iron seal."

An uncomfortable silence settled in the room. Simsel was once again praying at the altar while Armant was reflecting over the words. The prediction was definitely about himself and Erina. It had been ten days since he had come back to Rida, the white flower seemed to represent Erina and the "rude behaviour" likely referred to his bribing attempt.

His fate was definitely intertwined with everyone's since he was the prince, and his body and soul were indeed in danger if he was to be found out. The last sentence was the most interesting part. "those down-under" could mean a lot of things, and he had no knowledge of an "iron seal".

"Did this revelation help you?"

Armant was so entrenched into his own thought that he didn't even realize Simsel had finished praying and was sat again.

"I… Think it did. Do you happen to know about who could be referred to with "down-under"? Or something about an "iron seal"?"

Simsel fell deep in thought, scratching the chin of his mask.

"I do not know what could be referred to by the Iron Seal, but about those down-under… Well, in our religion studying the sky and space is our way to worship Ciela. Those down-under are those that fell from her grace and have been thrown under the earth, so they can't watch the sky anymore…"

Armant felt dread as the realization dawned upon him.

"Don't you mean…"

A grave look settled in Simsel's eyes.

"Yes. Demons…"

No matter the religion, something was always in common. Gods have angels or similar beings at their service and demons are angels who fell from grace, succumbing to their selfish desires. If demons were involved in the plot to take over Rida, then the situation was even worse than Armant thought.

"Unfortunately, I cannot help you more than that. I do not know who you are, Amran, but your fate seems dark. I will send a healer to your relative later today, and I wish you the best."

Armant shaked the hand Simsel had extended him then left the temple. There was much to think about, but his experience with Gerey had taught him that having some help is crucial. To resolve this problem, he made his way right in front of a rather peculiar group of buildings. In contrast to the normal residential buildings around, these ones in particular had an ominous look. A three-meter tall wall with crenelations surrounding what looked like a fortified army headquarters. On each side of the gate, two white flags with a stylized black dog head on each.

Exactly what Armant imagined the headquarters of the Black Dogs mercenaries to look like.

They were known to each noble family as the "clean-up" solution when everything else had failed. They were expensive, but everything was dealt with quickly and efficiently.

In the country of Rida, these types of mercenaries were needed. In contrast to the countries Armant had travelled through the last months, here the "adventurers" as an organization didn't exist. It was the standing army that had to deal with monsters and bandits. More than public security, it allowed the soldiers to stay fit and trained. Thing is, the army cannot deal with everything. Material gathering, escorting caravans, bodyguarding, those tasks were done by different group of mercenaries.

Some were focused on one task, some were focused on another, but the Black Dogs were one of the elite groups. Their headquarter reflected their wealth and consequently their standing in society. Used to nobles who wanted to deal with dirty work while staying unknown, the guards at the entrance talked to him as they would to any potential customer.

"Greetings, sir. What brings you to the black dogs today?"

"Bodyguard."

"Second building on the right, have a good day sir."

Quick and efficient, just as their methods. Armant liked it. He entered through the gate the guard had opened for him and made his way to the building. There were five of them in total, two on the left and right, one in front of the entrance. The middle area acted as a training ground, burly men covered in muscles shouting at young recruits with wooden swords and men and women with various ranged weapons exercising their aim on humanoid targets.

He walked on a paved path that circled around the training ground and entered into the building the guard had indicated him.

He seemed to be in a waiting area, with comfy sofas, tables and chairs to wait. Various men and women were already waiting, the majority of them having hid their faces in a similar fashion to Armant.

A woman dressed in a black and white dress decorated with a black dog head approached him.

"Are you looking for a bodyguard, sir?"

Armant nodded.

"Follow me please."

He followed her into a small but rather comfortable room. She sat on one end of a desk, prepared a quill and a sheet of paper then invited him to sit in front of her.

"I am Martina, I will help you to choose a bodyguard. Can you tell me a bit more about the nature of the work?"

Armant took a moment to think. The "nature of his work"? Heh, it was a difficult question to answer.

"First and foremost, I need someone who can stand his own all alone, and who can fight with concealable weapons."

She took a moment to write the conditions, then presented the options.

"I assume you wish to hire a single person?"

Armant nodded.

"Then in accordance to your preferences, there are a few people I can suggest. A magic user, be it divine or arcane in nature, an assassin, a rogue or a brawler?"

The list was quite short, but such were Armant's needs after all. He was about to choose, when Simsel's words came back into his memories. Demons. Demons couldn't be dealt with without magic. Was he forced to hire a mage? He really didn't want to. Mages were dependent on mana to fight and most of the times needed a want or a staff to stabilize their spells. He needed someone who could be ready to fight a any moment's notice.

He voiced his concerns to the woman who nodded.

"Do not worry sir, that is a very real worry. What you are looking for is a martial artist then."

This peeked Armant's interests. Martial artists were few, but were said to be quite powerful. They allied both bare hands fighting with spells. And "true" spells, those that used mana, not common martial arts. Most importantly, they could keep on fighting even after running out of mana.

"We have two of them currently, would you like to meet them?"

He agreed, and followed the woman who led him deeper into the building. As they passed a courtyard, she stopped him.

"Look by the window, looks like they're training."

Indeed, in the courtyard, a woman of short stature was kneeling in front of a man, also kneeling.

They raised standing at the same time and took the same pose: one arm in the back, one arm at the front, feet planted on the ground.

The man initiated the fight by throwing a punch in front of him, sending a frozen wave in a cone shape. The woman spinned around, momentarily turning into a fire tornado. As soon as her body stabilized, she plunged at him, her fist shining yellow. The man blocked with his forearm, only to get thrown to the ground by the heavy impact. Before she could press on the attack, he clapped his hands together. Armant immediately felt a sharp pain to his ears and looked around, only to see that Martina was holding her head too.

Looking back into the courtyard, the female martial artist had been forced to retreat a few steps, allowing the man to get back up and prepare for the next assault. He knelt and hit the ground with a fist. A fireball erupted from under the woman, forcing her to jump to the side. She used the wall as a foothold to plunge once again at him, this time without any magic apparently activated. The man braced for impact, only to get surprised by the woman using a magic foothold to jump over and land behind him. Before he could react, he was hit multiple times and fell to the ground.

Armant couldn't hear anything, but the unnatural position of the arms could only mean broken bones, and showed clearly the winner of this engagement. The fight in itself had only took a few seconds, ten at most but its brutality clearly showed the effectiveness of a true martial artist.

Immediately after the man fell to the ground, the woman took a bottle from a pouch in her vest and helped the man drink it. While he watched her doing that, Armant had already decided who he wanted to hire.

"I believe this sight was satisfactory?"

At Martina's question, Armant couldn't help but smile.

"Very. I will hire the woman."

* * *

He left the Black Dog's headquarters with the woman at his side. Her outfit was quite simple, consisting of comfortable leather boots with steel thuds to deal more damage, black pants, a green vest with a red stylized dragon head on it and a black bandana holding a piece of cloth covering her face. Her hair was held together in a bun at the top of her head, revealing her neck and ears. Her height was average, but her petite constitution hid a great strength. She had a few rings at her fingers, simple gold earrings and a discreet silver chain around the neck.

Armant had no doubt she hid many more items in the fold of her clothes.

While they walked to the next destination, he told her about the dangers they might have to face.

"… and also demons. I'm not sure on this one, but it is a very high probability that we will encounter an opponent magical in nature."

She simply nodded.

"Do not worry sir Amran. I am a martial artist. I have already faced demons multiple times, including a greater one. A hard fight, but one that I won."

She kept calling him "Sir Amran", the name he had chosen to hide his identity instead of "Amran" like he had told her multiple times. Eventually, he had let her. To change the subject and also to satisfy his curiosity, he kept asking her questions while they walked to their next destination.

"Say, despite hiring you I never asked for your name."

"Oh, forgive me, my parents named me Li wei."

"Are you not from here? Your name, and your clothes…"

"I was born in Rida, if that is your answer. However, my family came from the west three generations ago. We own a _dojo_ near the town of Kolstan."

"A dojo? What is that?"

She took a moment to think.

"I guess for you it would be something like a mix between a training ground, a temple and a living place. A Black Dog official came to see one of our trainings seven years ago and was impressed by my skills. He asked if I wanted to become an elite mercenary, and as you can see I did."

This wasn't that of an uncommon story for Ridan citizens. As the only human country around, it wasn't rare for isolated, nomadic human populations to reach Rida and ask for citizenship.

As they walked and learnt to know each other, the surrounding started to change. The paved roads started to become muddy and dirty, beggars lined the streets, whores called to the passers-by and all sorts of shady individuals proposed suspicious wares.

Li Wei dropped her attitude to watch the surroundings for any threats. It was impressive, to say the least. Her face was hidden, but her eyes peering through the eye slits in the cloth had sharpened to an extent that Armant wasn't sure it was the same woman.

Eventually, they reached their destination. Lightly clothed women inviting people inside at the entrance revealed the nature of the establishment. This didn't tempt Armant at all. After having seen the wonders of all the women surrounding Ainz Ooal Gown, he doubted he would ever find someone that could match such a beauty.

This, was "That Place". A building commonly known amongst nobles as a good place to find information or to deal with illegal wares. At the same time, it was far enough from the wealthy district for the city guards to pay it no heed, so they could release their pent-up desires should they have _particular_ preferences.

When he had been told what happened to some of the girls when he was younger, it revolted him. Some were tortured, forced to deal with sick fetishes, and even sometimes killed for a client's pleasure. He had asked his father why did the guards never raided this place, and the answer was simple, but cruel.

It was a known place, easy to spy. The king's agents had infiltrated it and used it as a way to gain information on potential traitors. And should they destroy it, another would just appear somewhere else.

Again, it wasn't rare for the nobles who came here to hide their faces, allowing Armant and Li Wei to stay unnoticed, the guards only nodding at him when he entered.

A scantily clad woman approached him, waving her hips in a seductive manner.

"My my, hello good sir. Are you here for the girls?"

"I am here for "That" place."

Without a word, the woman showed him to a door behind the main counter and let him inside. While they walked down a fly of stairs, Li Wei whispered some protests.

"I am not here to indulge with your fetishes, sir Amran…"

"Rest easy, I do not come here for that. Just follow me and don't say a word."

She nodded, but Armant could still see a tint of doubt in her gaze. Eventually, they came into a large room. It was lit with magic lights and the walls were lined with doors. In front of them, a simple desk behind which a richly clothed man was sat while six or seven armed men played cards in a corner.

He spoke with the man behind the desk, but the name Derul didn't seem to ring a bell. Armant even waited as the man called a few other people and asked them, but to no avail. Not wanting to attract too much unwanted attention, he bid the man farewell and left. He had expected information to be scarce, but he didn't expect for there to be nothing at all.

A little disheartened, he left the building accompanied by Li Wei and looked at the sky. The sun was high, the sky was clear and his belly grumbled, making him realize it was past noon. Walking back to the inn Erina was resting in, they crossed a large bustling market. Men and women selling their wares, shouting to attract the passers-by attention, some jugglers and street artist putting on a show and a dense crowd impeding movement, such were the trademarks of a human market. And in a sense, it calmed Armant. Seeing what he had to face in the past and what he had to brace for in the future, it was good to see a bit of normalcy.

He stopped by a stall selling food and bought some meat buns for himself, Li Wei and Erina. As he was about to pay, he realized he didn't have any coin anymore. Hiring a true martial artist wasn't something cheap, and the ten gold coins he had brought had been already used to pay for the first week of the contract. Realizing his predicament, Li Wei took out a small pouch to pay in his stead.

As he waited, a bit ashamed that someone else had to pay for him, he was pushed by a group of children running around. He lost his footing and not wanting to harm accidentally one of the children he had no choice but to fall to the side. The child who pushed him let out a "Sorry mister!" before running back to his friends.

Raising back up, he wiped the dust of his clothes and accepted the paper bag of meat buns the shopkeeper was handing him.

"It's sad to see that happen in the capital…"

On their way to the inn, Li Wei raised her voice.

"Huh? What do you mean?"

She took a moment to find her words.

"The group of children from before. They weren't playing, they're pickpocketing people."

At Armant's curious glare, she explained herself.

"They had dirty and patched up clothes and they smelled. Look around, this isn't a poor district. What happens usually is that poor parents will send their child to pickpocket during the day so they can actually eat decently at dinner. You should check your pockets, sir Amran. I wouldn't be surprised if they stole something from you."

Handing her the bag of meat buns, he patted his clothes to make sure nothing lacked. He had left his crossbow and enchanted short sword at the inn as to avoid attracting attention and had only kept a simple iron dagger along with normal clothes and a padded leather vest.

Out of his belongings, he realized the dagger was gone. The sheathe was still there, but the leather strap that was supposed to hold it in place had been undone and the weapon was gone. He didn't mind it that much, it was a cheap item he had bought recently for self-defense.

He also realized he had been given something. In one of his pockets, a folded piece of paper which he had no knowledge of had been placed, most probably by the children earlier. He opened it and read the content.

 _You know who I am._

 _Look for someone with a red armband this evening, and follow me._

 _Come alone._

Was this really it? Did he just catch Derul's attention just by asking some questions at the brothel earlier? He had trouble believing that it was the case. But he had no choice. In his position, any information was good information.

"Li Wei? You may have to act according to the contract earlier than expected."

"Oh?"

Despite the declaration, her face sported a fearless smile.

"This evening. We may or may not have to fight."

"I shall be ready, sir Amran."

* * *

It was soon in the evening. They didn't spend the rest of the day idling around, Armant and Li Wei went into a library to find information on the "Iron seal", but to no avail. Books referring to seals were numerous, and those referring to iron were even more.

After a few hours a fruitless searching, he had come back to the inn, hoping Erina had found an idea while he was away, but it wasn't the case. She had heard of it once somewhere, but she couldn't remember where and when. He also used the occasion to present Erina to Li Wei and explained his sister of what he had done in the morning. In order to hide their identity, he referred himself as "Amran" and Erina as "Joana". Erina also told him about the priestess that had come to the inn to heal her. Apparently, she would be able to move and walk normally in about a week, and the safe usage of magic would come back after another week of resting.

Once came dinner time, Armant and Li Wei went into the dining area of the inn to eat with the other patrons. During the meal he scanned the room multiple times to look for the man with the red armband, but he didn't find anyone corresponding to the description.

He started to get nervous when he finished the meal and the man with the red armband still didn't show up. Was it a trap? Or a very elaborate joke? He really didn't believe in such a big coincidence, so he just waited and waited.

As the room started to clear up for the night, he finally noticed what he was looking for. A man with the said armband who had just finished drinking at the bar and was leaving the counter. He whispered to Li Wei.

"We do as told."

She nodded and went back to her drink as Armant left his seat and followed the man outside. The night was fresh but not terribly cold, in fact it had a refreshing air that cleared the mind. At regular intervals, he dropped a little bit of glowing power he had bought earlier. Just enough as for it not to be noticed, but for someone that knew what to look for to find it. This Fairy Dust was originally an alchemical ingredient, but tonight it would serve for Li Wei to follow Armant.

He walked for a bit of time behind the man with the red armband, until he turned to enter inside a house. It was a fairly large building without a door but a gate to enter into what looked like a courtyard. Inside, the man was waiting for Armant to enter.

Gulping, Armant walked slowly inside. Quite expectedly, as soon as he passed the gate the creaking sound of it closing wasn't reassuring in the slightest.

"I didn't expect you to be so naïve, prince Armant."

He gulped nervously. Did his attempt at covering his identity get blown so soon?

"Are you Derul?"

The man didn't answer. Instead, he walked up to a door. From inside came an armored figure. It took a moment for Armant to notice the red and gold hue coming from the metal because of the moon light. If a Sister of the Shroud showed up, then his situation was even worse than he thought. In her hands was a halberd with a sinister design. She spoke calmly, but he could discern anger in her voice.

"I do not know who Derul is, but maybe you will speak once I chopped of your arms. Oh, how will I torture you? You need to pay for what you did, after all…"

"For what I did?..."

Her movements stopped. She turned her face into his direction, as if she couldn't believe his words.

"You… Don't remember?"

She started to lose her temper, he could hear it in her voice.

"You don't remember how you ordered to slaughter my sisters? How they were mercilessly shot while with their backs turned on you? How you shot my coven mother in the back?"

Finally, he understood who she was. She was a survivor of the coven of the Sisters of the Shroud that had attacked him and Robard's forces back in Taleah. His identity reveal could be also explained, after all it wasn't hard to follow a carriage unnoticed in the mountains. He just hoped she didn't reveal the information to too much people.

"YOU WILL PAY FOR IT!"

She roared as she charged, halberd high up in the air. This time, Armant had taken his enchanted short sword and unsheathed it. He sidestepped, letting the polearm strike the ground where he was just before.

But she wasn't done with her assault, and swung the weapon into his direction, using the shaft of the weapon to push him back. He rolled back and got up, preparing for a new assault. He had a range disadvantage as well as a strength disadvantage. Even with the strengthening enchantment on the short sword, she could generate much more strength with the length of her weapon. He had to get into close quarters, where she wouldn't be able to use the axe blade effectively. As for protection, he only had his usual dragon leather armor. It only protected his torso, shoulders and upper arms but it was better than nothing.

They turned slowly around each other, waiting for an opening. Suddenly, she swung her weapon horizontally. Armant ducked and used his position like a spring to jump at her. She was totally opened and her weapon was too cumbersome to bring back into position, but he didn't expect her to use the butt of the shaft right into the middle of his torso, knocking the air out of his lungs. She followed by a downward strike right on his head which Armant blocked with great difficulty. Lacking in air and stability, he fell to the ground. She swung downwards once again, but he rolled at the last minute, seeing the axe blade striking the ground just before his eyes.

He rolled once again and used the momentum to get up. They started to turn in a clockwise manner again, which Armant used to get a breather. This time, it was Armant who initiated the assault. He rushed into her direction, she tried to impale him with the top of her weapon but he pushed it away with his free hand while thrusting his sword into her unprotected armpit. She saw the blade coming way too close to her liking and shouted.

"[Repel]!"

A wave of invisible force sent him away while she resumed her guard position.

"I'm tired of this game, boy, you die now! [Earthshaking strike]!"

Unreadable white runes formed on the axe blade and she brought it down, striking the ground heavily. When magic was involved, it was better to avoid it entirely. Even before he saw the results, he jumped away as far as he could.

It seemed to have been the right decision. Starting from the axe blade, the ground between her and his previous position had a long gash and was cracked all round and many fragments had hit him despite the distance. He didn't get seriously hurt, a few cut and bruises at most but he would be finished if he took an attack like that directly.

As the white runes could still be seen on the blade, he had to assume it was a skill that would stay active during a certain duration. The good thing was that contrarily to certain skills that could only be cast a certain amount of times each day, skills that could be used how many times the user wanted seemed overpowered but the duration of activation should be very short. Even in the royal armory, such weapons or items could maintain an effect for ten seconds at most.

And it seemed the sister was very aware of that. She kept using the same skill, [Earthshaking strike] repeatedly on Armant. Fortunately, she needed to build up some strength first by raising the halberd and then strike it down, allowing Armant to predict where the next strike would hit pretty easily.

She used it five more times before the white runes faded away, leaving her panting.

"Is this all you're capable of? I should have ordered to hunt down every last one of you, would have avoided wasting my time here!"

This infuriated the sister, who roared in anger and charged at him. He avoided the top of her weapon, parried the second horizontal attack, ducked under the third swipe, nimbly sidestepped a fourth thrust, and then tripped on the ground.

It was then that he understood. The point of her using [Earthshaking strike] wasn't to hurt him. It was only to destroy the ground. And because of that, he had tripped on one of the gashes and was left undefended for a short period of time.

Time in which all he could do was notice a triumphant gleam in her eyes.

"You die now, kid!"

She brought the halberd down, striking him right into his chest. The dragon leather armor prevented him being bisected on the spot, but the sharp pain which assaulted his torso meant that he took a big chunk of damage.

Raising on wobbly feet and feeling the metallic taste of blood in his mouth, he spit the some of the vital liquid, and smiled.

"Is this your last bravado, kid? You will pay for all of my sisters!"

He couldn't help but chuckle.

"My last bravado? Heh, certainly not. However, I am about to witness your final moments."

"Wha-"

The sister's voice was interrupted by a sharp cry from behind her. Li Wei appeared from an open window, feet first and hit the sister square in the back, sending her sprawling to the ground and forcing her to drop the halberd.

" **[Tiger stance: tear]!** "

Her hands adopting a position reminiscing animal claws, she swiped down. The next instant, the sister's feet were literally cut apart from her body. It took a little while for her to realize, but not quick enough before Li Wei's next attack.

She jumped closer to the sister's body, raised her right foot at an impossible angle and brought it down straight on the unprotected neck. The spine cracked, and it was finished.

It took her just a few seconds to kill someone Armant couldn't even injure. Even if he would never admit it, it was a hit on his confidence. On the other side, he now understood the extremely expensive price of her contract.

Still taken aback by the speed at which the sister died, it took him a little while before recollecting his thoughts.

"Thank you, Li Wei. If you weren't there…"

She bowed slightly in his direction.

"There is no need for thanks, sir Amran. This is what I'm payed for after all. Nevertheless, I am glad you aren't too seriously injured."

Reminded of his injury, he coughed a bit.

"A healing potion should be enough to get me back on my feet. Did you scout the buildings?"

She nodded.

"Yes. It's some kind of large warehouse with many crates stacked in every corner. I found a room with people I assume were supposed to help bring you down, all armed. They're dead."

A warehouse of sort? Now this was interesting.

"This place may be a goldmine of information. While I investigate the corpses try to find to which organization this place belongs to."

* * *

It took a little over an hour, but scouting this place turned out to be a good start for Armant's investigation. Just as he had expected, this building was a storing house for the Sons of the Night, the most important criminal organization of the country. Another interesting fact was on the bodies of the people killed by Li Wei. Out of the ten bandits, six had a unusual tattoo on the left arm, and the sister too. Maybe it was the mysterious "Iron seal". Maybe it was something else. Nevertheless, he made a copy on a blank piece of paper for later study.

After that, there was not much else to do. Armant took some of the important papers Li Wei had found and they set fire to the building.

Walking back to the inn, he slipped the papers he had gotten under the door of a guard outpost. These contained the locations of at least two other similar warehouses in the capital and would hopefully deal a serious blow to the group's presence in the city. Even more, it would hopefully bring confusion, allowing Armant to investigate more easily.

* * *

After drinking a health potion, reassuring Erina and a good night's sleep, now was the time to analyse the strange tattoo he had copied. Thankfully, it was quick. He showed the symbol to Erina, who immediately rummaged through the Bag of Holding they had bought back in E-rantel. In there, many miscellaneous objects collected through their travels had been stored, but also a few interesting books Erina liked to read. She was interested in a lot of various themes, all tied one way or another to magic. One of these themes being alchemy, she took out a book, flipped through its pages and showed Armant a particular drawing. He recognized it immediately. It was a similar symbol to the one he had seen on the bandit's bodies, with only a few differences.

"It's a "Mark of Iron". It's used in alchemy when making particular potions that need an iron cauldron to be brewed. Usually, it's engraved on it to ensure that the ingredients within the cauldron won't melt it down if they're too strongly acidic in nature. It also gives a slight degree of resistance to magical effects to the material."

As she read the contents of the book, Armant couldn't help but be a little disappointed.

"Is that all?"

She smiled mischievously.

"That is all _that is written in the book._ Don't you forget who I am, Armant. I am Erina Electra, the genius mage who can cast seventh-tier spells before the age of thirty, the one who has created seven different spells of her own already and optimized the mana costs of countless other spells. Do you really think a mere basic alchemic formation can resist me?"

Hope blossomed in his heart.

"What do you mean?"

"We mages are really, really proud beings. When we create something, we sign it so everyone knows who created it. This tattoo you found? I am close to one hundred percent sure that it has such a signature. After decrypting it, I just have to compare it to other signatures and we will know who created it. Then, you'll just have to find the person and force it to tell you who ordered the creation of this formation."

This. Finally a solid route to the traitor. If they could pull this stunt off, then finally the problem would be over. He was so glad, he actually laughed out loud. For once in a long time, he felt like seeing a bright ray of light in the endless dark sea of his worries.

* * *

On the first day, Erina tasked Armant with buying some precise books about alchemy. She knew quite a bit already about enchanting, but she never really spent time learning about alchemy. On the second day, she spent the whole day holed up in her room while Armant tried once more to gather information about Derul. He tried a few mercenary guilds, temples, even guard posts but the name seemed unknown to all. He passed her something to eat in the evening, worried that she would pass out but she reassured him that everything was fine.

It was on the morning of the third day that she finished her task. Armant knocked on the door to her room and she answered weakly. Worried for her, he stormed into the room. The desk she was working on was covered in papers blackened by her writing, a pile of books threatening to fall at any time in the corner. Erina herself was in a sorry state. She had bags under her eyes, her clothes were wrinkled, her hair undone and her hands covered in ink stains.

"Erina!"

She turned to face him and raised a wobbly hand.

"Armant… I know… Who did it…"

Her speech was slurred, she clearly spent the whole night working. She passed a hand on her face, forcing herself to wake up a bit.

"Lord Wulfa…"

Armant gasped.

"THE Lord Wulfa?"

She nodded.

"This one indeed."

This was bad news. Lord Wulfa was a powerful mage, one of the few in the country Erina still couldn't beat in a duel. He was also one of the ten most powerful nobles in the country. Now the question was how to approach him. And it was answered thanks to Erina once again.

"He's a… Magic nut. I wrote you an… Introduction letter to one of… His monthly parties, in two days."

She pointed to a letter resting on the desk. He fetched the letter and turned back to Erina, but she had passed out. Gently, he got her to the bed, put the cover over her and left the room, making sure to close the door silently.

He knocked in Li Wei's door, and as soon as she opened:

"Li Wei, we have to prepare."

"For what?"

"For… Noble activities…"

It was time to shed some light on the shadows.

* * *

Two days later, Armant and Li Wei were in front of a large manor. It easily covered the area of a small district and oozed of luxury. Beautiful carvings adorning the walls, a neatly taken care of garden in the main courtyard, guards in ceremonious uniforms but real weapons patrolling and guarding the various entrances, all protected by a wrought iron fence resting on a stone wall.

They had picked new clothes the day before, Armant opting for a sober but elegant dark blue suit with silver decorations. Li Wei herself had picked a strange dress, red in color with white and golden decorations adorning its surface. It was a style Armant had never seen, but it was truly a work of art.

Armant had bought a finely engraved mask to cover the top of his face, only leaving the mouth and chin to see.

He realized it was also the first time he could take a close look at Li Wei's face. She had pale skin, sharp features, strangely slanted eyes and had gathered her hair in a ponytail. On the outside, she looked just like a frail woman, as fragile as a flute of wine. But Armant knew that her apparent frailness was but an impression that hid a spirit as sharp as a razor.

The butler at the entrance read the content of the letter Erina had given to him, then let them both inside after giving it back. It was night time, and the party was already well under way. Armant had hoped that by giving some time the alcohol would soften the tongues a little bit.

The participants all wore elaborate clothes showing their wealthy backgrounds, some already drunk, some played card or dice games, some involved in polite conversations. Maids and butlers passed, holding trails full of beverages in luxurious glasses and a few guards walked here and there, politely reminding some of the less sober participants of their surroundings with more or less success.

It was truly a noble party in its most clear definition, an event that Armant know all too well. It was not rare for the royal palace to hold such a party and as the prince he had always been required to participate. It was an event that both relieved the stress of the nobles, but was also a battlefield. Mines and jewels worth an entire castle were thrown on the table for the thrill of the game, daughters and sons were engaged over a friendly joke and relations were repaired or worsened over a glass of wine.

Following the rules of such parties, Armant and Li Wei went first to greet the organizer. Passing through the gardens, they entered inside the manor. There, the participants were a little less raucous, conscious of being inside another's home.

After asking a maid who passed by, they made their way to the ball room where Lord Wulfa was supposed to be. A music was being played by an orchestra and some nobles were dancing on the dance floor in the middle. All around, tables were placed against the walls, covered in snacks and more copious dishes. Some were eating, some were watching the dancers in the middle.

While this was quite common for Armant, Li Wei was completely overwhelmed. She was simply following Armant automatically, awed by her surroundings. He couldn't help but chuckle.

"Did you never get to a noble party before?"

She snapped back to reality, focusing back on her main task.

"I have but… Not on this scale…"

Lord Wulfa currently dancing, Armant sat on a free bench and helped himself to some of the snacks, waiting for the music to end. Once the last note was played and the dancers applauded by the audience, a calmer music began, encouraging small talk and conversations. Armant made his way to where Ryanis Wulfa was resting, accompanied by his wife.

Just like he expected, Wulfa wore his usual black robe with a common leather belt to hold it in place. It was utterly out of place, but it was accepted by the others for two reasons: He was the host of the party and it was his usual style, those berating him for that suffering strange accidents involving magic. His head was bald, a nice beard adorned his face and his eyes hid a great intelligence despite his advanced age.

While his wife seemed to blend in more easily with her lively character and rich clothes, he noticed that Wulfa, despite his smile, seemed bored and even frustrated. In fact, it was his wife that did all the talking while he quietly sipped on a glass of wine. Once the horde of admirers was dragged by his wife who went somewhere else, Armant and Li Wei advanced to present themselves.

"Greetings, Lord Ryanis Wulfa. I am Amran Defri, student at the royal school of engineering."

Wulfa straightened his posture and shaked the extended hand.

"It's a pleasure to meet you. I don't remember seeing your name on the list of the participants?"

Armant chuckled lightly.

"I received a recommendation letter from her highness Erina Electra whom I met a few months ago. Since we developed a good relation she asked me to go in her stead since she couldn't this month."

At the mention of Erina, the man's face changed drastically. It was just as Erina had told Armant the last day. Wulfa was a magic nut. Once it came to magic or talented mages, his personality would change completely. Even more, Erina had a good relation with Wulfa since both of them were disturbingly enamoured of magic.

"Eri…"

He coughed.

"Is her highness alright? It has been a few months since I last heard of her."

"Oh, yes she is. A project of hers is taking most of her time, but she sends you her regards."

He smiled. The first genuine smile since he had seen him, noted Armant.

"The feeling is shared. Well then, pray tell , how did you meet her? Surely someone that caught the eye of the princess must be exceptional."

"It was…"

The conversation kept going on, Armant keeping the lord company. They talked about many things, including his background (which he completely invented on the fly), the general state of the country but mostly about Erina. At some point, Armant introduced the subject and the reason of his presence here.

"Say, Lord Wulfa, would you be so kind as to tell me what kind of project you have been working on recently? Erina spoke great amounts of good about you, but never in detail. I would be glad to learn more…"

Just like Erina had told him, mages are incredibly proud beings. As an accomplished mage, Wulfa wasn't an exception and coughed before displaying his feats. In fact, he seemed so proud of himself he started by telling Armant about the first spell he had invented, thirty years ago. From there, he told of an impressive amount of feats that would certainly seem impressive for any mage, but that made Armant waste his time more than anything. None of the "projects" involved alchemy or anything related. At least none that he told Armant.

Keeping an interested face, he listened until the end which took at least twenty minutes. All he learned during this speech was that Wulfa had created his own "mage's guild" to help him in his studies, consisting of eleven people which he had named "The Truthpiercers".

Overall, it wasn't a very informative conversation. Armant didn't hear what he had hoped to hear. However, with the knowledge about the Truthpiercers, a potential new source of information presented itself. As Wulfa was about to finish his speech, one of the guards came to whisper something in his ear. Armant retreated a few steps out of politeness and waited for the guard to leave.

Once it was done, Wulfa coughed lightly and invited Armant to follow him. He accepted and grabbed Li Wei's shoulder before following Wulfa. Li Wei walked behind the two, but her expression steeled, for Armant grabbing her shoulder was the sign that they may have to fight their way out soon.

As they walked through the corridors, Lord Wulfa kept speaking.

"What about that mask of yours? Are you maybe hiding something?"

Armant chuckled nervously.

"Oh, no, none of that my lord. My studies in magical engineering can be pretty dangerous, and let's just say one of my experiments left me some unsightly scars. I wouldn't want to expose the others to them."

"And about your companion? Is she your loved one, maybe?"

"Erina told me about the jealousy between mages and their research. The feeling is shared between engineers, just maybe not to such an extent. She is here to protect me."

"I see…"

As the seconds passed, Armant's worries grew more and more. He could hear that they were now in a part of the manor devoid of any participants, and that the number of guards following them had increased. He was pretty sure his cover was busted. He had to leave, and quickly.

Unfortunately, they were on the third floor already. Li Wei might survive such a fall, but Armant wouldn't. Maybe with martial arts he would only suffer a few broken bones.

Then, he saw his salvation. A large tree just outside of a window, perfect for climbing down.

"NOW!"

It was as if time slowed down. Armant made a run for the window, preceded by Li Wei with a glowing fist, intent on breaking the glass. The guards trying to grab them, and Wulfa shouting "Stop them!", a magical formation forming itself around his hand.

The next moments would determine his fate, as well as the country's.

* * *

"Fascinating…"

The demon watched as ice trapped his left hand. Oh, it didn't hurt. Far from that. It just cooled him a bit and as it melted, soaking his suit. However, what surprised him was that he got damaged at all. He could feel his own HP pool, and that he had just lost ten HP. It was nothing compared to his total health. What surprised him too was that the suit itself was affected by the ice. It was a rare item of the cloth category, but which gave quite a substantial amount of defence against magical attacks. Mere ice shouldn't have even been able to approach him and the suit.

Demiurge watched with interest as the ice melted quickly thanks to his infernal flame. Then back at the human magic caster which had launched the projectile in his direction. The human's eyes hinted at the sheer terror Demiurge was inspiring.

A projectile whizzed past Demiurge, maybe a severed arm or a head? It didn't matter. The projectile hit the wall next to the human magic caster, exploding in gore and bone splinters. The human staggered back and felt the wall behind him. He tried to stick to the wall the best he could, wanting to disappear completely.

A female figure in armor holding a black halberd came close to the demon. In her other hand, she held a rolled piece of paper.

"What are you gawking at Demiurge? We have to clear this nest for Lord Ainz."

Demiurge smiled. To Albedo, he lightly jumped to the terrified magic caster and caught him by the throat, hanging him in the air. To the human, the demon inexplicably appeared in front of him before he could even react.

"Albedo, this could prove to be a wealth of information. A mere human has managed to deal some damage to me. Do you realize the implications?"

The armored figure nodded negatively. In truth, she could see the implications. But she simply couldn't allow herself to leave any enemies of her beloved alive when one was just in front of her.

"Our scouts told us that their general level should be around fifty, with the strongest being sixty-five. And yet, they escaped our vigilance for weeks, killed Nazarick troops way higher levelled and even managed to hurt me. Even you."

That was true. Albedo's armor was blackened in some place, but that was all. All would go away with a good scrubbing, but the fact that it had left traces on a divine-item class was worthy of note. Demiurge straightened his grip around the human's throat and lowered him so he could see him eye-to-eye.

"You have something truly fascinating. And you will tell it to me. Out of your own volition. And even if you keep being stubborn, I will send you to Neuronist. It has been a long time since she has received a nice gift. And I hate to admit it, but her refinement when it comes to… _questioning_ … is higher than mine."

The guardian overseer sighed.

"Demiurge, stop playing around and take a look at that."

"Hmmm?"

The demon turned his head, looking at the piece of paper Albedo was presenting. He didn't weaken his grip on the human. It looked like a map, with Nazarick's location on it. What worried the demon was that it was Nazarick's _true_ location, not the fake Aura was building.

"This… This is quite disturbing."

Albedo nodded at Demiurge's word. Disturbed by the revelation, Demiurge weakened his hold, allowing the human to form a few words.

"We… Know… Everything of…You…"

Immediately, the demon turned his attention back to the human.

"My master… Has… Been here… For centu-centuries… You can't… Even… Begin to…Get close to his… Greatness…"

Annoyed by his words, Demiurge straightened his grip once again. This time not allowing him to breathe, the human fell unconscious in a minute, deprived of oxygen. The two guardians made their way back out to the entrance, while all around shadow demons, undead and various Nazarick monsters executed the few surviving defenders of the den and moved crates full of items. The cave the assassins had been hiding in would have been a good defence, but mattered little to the overwhelming power the two guardians had brought.

Back outside there was a snowstorm currently pinning all life in the region to the ground. All life, except for Demiurge, Albedo and their helpers, either too high level to be bothered or not affected at all by temperature.

Raising his hand to his ear, Demiurge waited for a bit for the connection to take place.

"Shalltear, can you open the portal? The operation's complete, and we have a lot of work to do."

After a moment, a portal of swirling blackness opened. Before walking in it, Demiurge pointed to a shadow archdemon not far.

"You there, you're in charge now. Take all the worthy items and send the bodies to be inspected. I want to know everything about these pitiful defenders."

The archdemon acknowledged the order and Demiurge passed through the portal. Perhaps the greatest challenge to Nazarick since they came into this world was presenting itself, and Demiurge was delighted to finally face worthy opponents, all for the glory of Ainz Ooal Gown.

* * *

 **Hello there, author here.**

 **We're finally reaching the end of the story soon, hehe. I must say I'm quite proud of what I write. It's not the best, but it keeps me and hopefully you readers entertained.**

 **Keep the reviews coming, it's always nice to see people are interested.**

 **I wanted to make a spooktober joke, but I was too late.**

 **Damn it.**

 **With that said, I wish you the best and see you next publication!**


	23. Chapter 22: Premice of a showdown

Armant woke up with a headache. Looking around, he realized he was in an empty room. The floor, walls and ceiling all covered in a copper-colored metal. It was rather small, with just enough space to walk a few steps between each wall. One wall was composed of thick metal bars of the same metal the rest of the room was made of, strongly reminiscing of a prison cell.

On the opposite side, Li Wei was sat against the wall, looking at her surroundings calmly. Once she saw him opening his eyes, she immediately came at his side to help him to sit. When he passed a hand through his hair, a sizable bump at the back of his head made him wince in pain.

Then, all the memories of what happened previously came back.

Despite Li Wei's best efforts, Lord Wulfa wasn't called the second strongest battle mage of the nation for nothing. He had used **[Dispel]** in a show of both wits and efficiencyto neutralize her magically enhanced skills, and she didn't manage to avoid the binding spells long enough. Armant had fallen even faster. As soon as he dashed to the window, a guard had grabbed his arm. He had managed to break free, but not fast enough to avoid another guard who quite literally threw himself at Armant to pin him to the ground. After witnessing Li Wei's inevitable demise, a hit to the back of his head had made him lose consciousness.

"Sir Amran, are you wounded?"

At Li Wei's question, he passed gently a hand over the bump, grimacing.

"More shaken than injured, but I should be alright. You?"

After reassuring Armant that she was fine, she knocked on the metallic walls.

"I already tried to break the metal sir Amran, but for an unknown reason all my magic is gone. If feels like-"

She didn't manage to finish the sentence before a door behind the bars opened. From there, Lord Wulfa himself came forward. After speaking a few words to the guard outside, he was left alone with Armant and Li Wei.

An uncomfortable silence settled in. Both parties looked at each other, waiting for the other to start. During this time, Armant managed to hear the faint sounds of the party still going on outside. It meant two things. One: he was still close to Lord Wulfa's manor or imprisoned inside. Two: he didn't stay unconscious for too long. Was it ten minutes or a few hours however, he had no way to know.

"I didn't expect the prince himself to come to this party. I didn't take you for someone that would appreciate such frivolities, your highness. But then again, you tried to sneak in under a false identity. That means you have something to hide and I want to know _what._ "

This… Wasn't how Armant had envisioned the beginning of a conversation between a jailor and his captive. If anything, he would have expected Wulfa to taunt him for his failure. But it turned out that the lord wasn't a man to waste time. Armant stayed suspicious as Wulfa took out a small bottle with a translucid liquid swirling inside.

"This… Is a truth serum. Extremely complicated to brew. Extremely expensive ingredients. I do not use it lightly, but I fear this conversation will have no worthy result if no truth is said."

This really worried Armant. He was no depository of knowledge, but he knew quite a lot of things that were dangerous. The palace's secret escape route, for example. Or where the royal family hid all the state secrets. If Wulfa were to know all of these things, then even without exterior or demonic help he could orchestrate a coup-d'etat or obtain everything he wanted. This fear apparently came apparent on his face, because Wulfa raised an eyebrow.

"Do not worry your highness, we have nothing to hide from each other."

If anything, that only worried Armant even more. Li Wei had already said she couldn't break out of the cell and even if she could Wulfa had already proven he was capable of stopping her in her tracks.

He started to prepare to resist the effects of the potion. Truth serums were very dangerous items when it came to people of high rank and as such, Armant had been taught how to resist their effect on his own. A truth serum was a potion that forced your mouth to speak only the truth. But that meant that you could also simply refuse to answer, or tell something that was technically true while not giving information to the other party. For example, if he was asked if there was a secret escape route to the royalty, then he would be forced to answer yes. But if he was asked where it is, he could answer "In Rida.". It was true, and gave no usable information to the interrogator. After that, it was a game of telling as much useless information as one could while the effects of the potion lasted. As a very complicated and expensive potion, truth serums were very rarely used more than once, allowing more time for the interrogated to be saved.

Once he braced enough for the interrogation, he opened his eyes. And to his surprise, Wulfa was removing his jewellery. The rings at his fingers, the necklace and the earring at his left ear. Then, he uncorked the truth serum and drank half of it in a big gulp.

After that, he extended his hand just in front of the cell, presenting the bottle. Armant eyed suspiciously the serum, dumbstruck by what just happened. Why would his supposed enemy remove his items which certainly provided magical protection to many effects? Why would he drink himself the serum? At Armant's loss of response, Wulfa raised an eyebrow.

"Are you not drinking, your highness? I wish for this conversation to be useful to both of us. As you can see, I am no longer protected against the effects of the serum and left half of it to you. Is this not enough of a show of truthfulness?"

Armant grabbed the bottle, still suspicious. For all he knew, this was still a plot to take over the kingdom, with one of the most likely suspects just in front of him and offering a deal almost too sweet. Was he really holding a truth serum? What if it was a poison to which Wulfa was immune? It made no sense as Armant could be executed any time by the powerful mage.

And if this was a genuine truth serum, then what Wulfa just said sounded strangely far from what an enemy would say. Seeing that Armant was still hesitating to bring the drink to his lips, the lord sighed.

"My name is Ryanis Wulfa, son of Aldwid Wulfa and current head of the Wulfa family. I bear you no hostility, and wish to discover why the prince is sneaking under a false identity into my household."

No hostility? Did he mean that he wasn't hostile to Armant since he considered him harmless? Or did it mean that he didn't want to harm him physically? Once trained and with the right turn of words, someone could tell the truth while meaning the opposite. Was Ryanis Wulfa one of these people? But then, why would he keep Armant jailed? Maybe it was something with Erina? Was it that he wanted to be sure to silence any potential enemy? Then that meant that he still didn't know where Erina was staying hidden. But then again, he did drink the potion earlier. Then was he protected to the effects? Why? Why? Whywhywhywhywhy…

His train if thought was interrupted by Li Wei who grabbed him by the shoulder. The contact made him jump and look at the person touching him. In his eyes, the martial artist could see uncertainty, fear but most importantly paranoia. The burden of knowledge was hard to bear, even more for someone of Armant's rank and at such a relatively young age. After all, he wasn't even twenty yet.

"Sir Amran, or should I say your highness? I believe you can trust lord Wulfa. If he meant harm to you, I believe he would have already done it. And if he wanted to learn about things you do not wish to say, I am pretty sure a mage of his stature could find a way to obtain it without drinking the truth serum himself."

The voice of reason shed some light into his thought clouded by uncertainty. It was a risk to take, but he would go nowhere if he wasn't ready to take risks. Steeling his resolve, he drank the remaining potion in one large swing. The effects were immediate, but subtle. He felt no different, but if he tried to say something he knew wrong it was as if he couldn't muster any strength. Not even to open the mouth or form signs with his hands. As if his body _refused_ to obey to what he wanted to do. A very alienating feeling.

"I am Armant Electra, son of the king Merick Electra and prince of the nation. I have come here to confirm if you're trying to take over the nation."

Wulfa raised an eyebrow.

"Take over the nation? I have no interest in that, your highness. All I am interested in is the study of magic."

Then it was confirmed. Ryanis Wulfa wasn't the one behind the whole plot. The fact that he could say being only interested in magic under the effects of the truth serum showed how dedicated he was to this cause. That left the traitorous Lord Acan and the mysterious Lord Cuthel as the main potential culprits. But that also meant that Wulfa was somehow involved in the plot.

"My sister and I have been the target of the Sons of the Night for the last two weeks. She has been kidnapped, but I managed to rescue her. However, she got seriously wounded in our escape and she's currently resting. A diviner from the church of Ciela told me to look for those branded with the "Iron seal", and we found a tatoo on the corpses of the bandits who attacked us. It was very similar to the "Iron mark" Erina found about in an alchemy book. When she analysed the tattoo, she read your signature on it, Ryanis. I want to know why. And also, I know demons are involved, somehow."

The lord took a moment to think over the content of what he had just been said.

"Demons, you say? No sane person would deal with them. I have no knowledge of an iron seal, your highness. I did create the iron mark as an alchemy enchantment, but it is not designed to work on humans. It would simply have no effects."

"Did you work with someone to create it? You mentioned the Truthpiercers earlier, didn't you?"

Wulfa scoffed lightly.

"I am offended you would suspect my Truthpiercers, your highness! I chose them one by one, choosing only the best of the best and those interested only in advancing magic! But… Yes, I cannot rule out that possibility. Someone broke into my office two months ago and the culprit was never found… They are at the party right now, I shall get them…"

"Thank you very much, Lord Wulfa… But about our situation here…"

The lord smiled lightly, chucking to himself.

"Of course, how inconsiderate of me! I shall free both of you."

Wulfa muttered something, pressed his palm against the lock and left the room as the jail door opened. Stepping outside, Armant and Li Wei followed a guard leading them elsewhere.

* * *

They were in what looked like to be the guard post of the mansion. On a wall was a rack on which some weapons were hung: swords, but also halberds, shields and even a huge battle axe. A few armor stands stood empty nearby, the armor probably equipped by the guards patrolling the mansion. Armant and Li Wei were sat at a long table in the middle of the room, mugs filled with mead in front of them, courtesy of the guards who had left the room when Wulfa had ordered them to. A single yellowish magical light lit the place above them and an uncomfortable silence had settled between the two.

Armant could understand Li Wei being uneasy. After all, with the revelations she had heard, her mission had gone from simple bodyguarding to helping the prince of the country to overthrow a plot designed to take over the throne. On top of that, it probably involved other great nobles. If she failed, her reputation along with the Black Dog's would plummet.

The silence was broken when Li Wei put back the mug, grimacing.

"Stale mead, the worst of them all… So… I mean…"

She was looking for the right words, unsure of what she even wanted to say. Armant stayed silent, allowing her to think it over.

"How… How would you have me call you? Your highness? Prince Armant? Sir Amran?"

"Just keep calling me sir Amran, discretion is vital for our task."

Another long minute was spent in silence.

"I am sorry your highness, it's just… I do not know what to do of all of this. The consequences of failing you isn't just a tarnished reputation for the Black Dogs, now… It just changes everything! A fight for the throne… It involves everyone now!"

"Yes, it does."

Armant's calm reply unsettled her. In front of her was a man, a young man who was half her age and yet took all of this with a surprising calm. She just realized now the expectations as well as the burdens that were placed on him as the prince.

"Will you complete this mission with me? And my sister? I wouldn't blame you for wanting to back away. We are facing an unknown threat, but one that is incredibly dangerous."

She took some more time to think it over. She considered this option seriously, weighting the pros and cons, but made her decision quickly.

"No, your highness. Because you hired the Black Dogs, and I wouldn't want to break this trust you have placed in me. But also, as a show of gratitude."

He raised an eyebrow.

"Of gratitude?"

"Yes, of gratitude your majesty. Before my family came into this country, life was hard. I heard tales and stories from my parents, grandparents and even from the elder of our family who still lives today. We were hunted by beasts and monsters. We couldn't settle in a place, for if we stayed too long we would attract the attention of something we couldn't beat. We couldn't take time to mine ores and forge weapon and armor, that's why we had to use martial arts. Finding about Rida, and being allowed to settle in… The elder told me that he was even happier than when his first child was born. He cried out of joy, when finally he realized his family would have time for something else than surviving. When he knew that each child would have the opportunity to grow old, instead of worrying who would live to see another day. I am thankful for the country and the ruling family that allowed that. Not only for me and my family, but also for all the other people who finally found a place to live, rather than survive."

Armant was about to answer, but she hadn't finished yet.

"That is why I want to help you in your endeavour. Think of it as a way to repay the king's kindness in accepting strangers with no other guarantee but their word."

A little overwhelmed by such a speech, he had to think about his next words. After all, she had just put her full trust into his hands. He couldn't just dismiss it.

"Well, it is what we humans do, Li Wei. Monsters hunt each other. They fight for territory. They fight for the right to mate. But we do not have that choice in such a cruel word. We do not have the goblin's numbers. We do not have the orc's tough skin. We do not have the tiger's agility. We do not have a dragon's strength. What we have however is ingenuity and bravery. It is only natural to help another human in danger. But I must also thank you. You see… I saw our current situation as a fight for the throne. Your words… They reminded me that I also fight for humans both in and outside of the borders. That I fight for all these people that yearn for a peaceful life. For those that only want a honest work and a loving family. And in a way, it gives me strength. I feel good about my cause. Thanks to you."

He extended his hand, and shaked firmly once she grabbed his. A new trust had just been born between the two individuals. A trust that was worth more than a hundred's knight oath.

Just as they released their hands, a door opened, letting Wulfa followed by eleven individuals, all richly dressed, man and woman alike. In front of Armant stood the Truthpiercers, the mages handpicked by one of the brightest minds of the nation to help him in his projects. Despite the party well on its way, all of them surprisingly sober. Was it an effect of the items they wore or something else? He had no way to know.

As Lord Wulfa presented them one by one, Armant observed their faces to see if anyone had a reaction when seeing him. Unfortunately, all of them just politely nodded when presented. From the looks alone, he had no way to know if one of them was a traitor or not.

"Amran here is a dear friend of mine and he has a question to ask to all of you. Please listen to him and answer truthfully."

As the attention shifted to him, Armant cleared his voice.

"Well, hello everyone. In reality I have two things to ask you. The first one would be to undress yourself."

Everyone, even Wulfa looked at Armant with surprise, even shock from some. He quickly corrected himself.

"Do not worry, I just need to see your bare arms."

Still a bit suspicious, all looked at Wulfa.

"Just do as he tells, please. It won't be long."

It was with a mix of confusion, suspicion and curiosity that the eleven shifted or removed the clothes covering their arms. As soon as that was done, Armant circled around them, watching carefully. Nearly all of them had some sort of tattoo somewhere, seemingly granting them enhancing magic. And to his expectations, two of them had an Iron Seal tattooed.

Focusing on the two's facial expressions, he went on to his second question.

"Secondly, I need to know if the name Derul rings a bell to any of you."

The first, a man, his right eye twitched. The second, a woman, her fist tightened on the cloth she was holding to keep it from covering the arms. If he wasn't watching carefully, he would have missed those signs completely. Those two definitely had something to do with the Iron Seal.

Armant pointed in their direction.

"It's these two. They know something."

As soon as he said that, all went downhill very quickly. Being the only two accused of something, and given the question Armant had asked, they had quickly connected the dots and figured they were in trouble.

 **[Flash]!**

The woman shouted, and Armant's vision turned completely white. Not even a second after, another spell resonated in the room filled with people protesting at the sudden pain in the eyes.

 **[Fire lance]!**

He sensed heat passing at his right flank along with a fiery roar. The spell hit the wall behind Armant and an explosion added to the chaotic situation.

 **[Lockdown]!**

Wulfa's word of power was followed by the sound of something hitting something hard and insults. With his vision returning, Armant looked around, trying to assess the situation. The wall behind him had been pulverized, a large hole where solid stone was before. A glowing yellow barrier had been erected as a bubble around Wulfa, trapping everyone in. The two mages were on the ground, holding their heads as they had apparently charged head-first into the barrier.

They quickly got back on their feet, but Li Wei was quick to react. She jumped right in front of the man and smacked him so hard he fell right back on the ground, unconscious. Seeing her companion down, the woman took out a wicked-looking dagger from the folds of her clothes. Li Wei prepared for an assault, but to her surprise the woman raised the dagger high up…

And stabbed it deep into her own guts.

There was a moment of silence. The nine remaining mages looked in disbelief at what was happening right in front of them. Wulfa was focusing, holding the lockdown in place. Li Wei looked with shock at the apparent suicide of her enemy.

And Armant started to panic. If he was right, then everyone in this room was in great danger.

Well, he was right. But he had momentarily forgotten that in this very room were possibly one of the most powerful magic caster group in the history of Rida.

* * *

Outside of the guard post, a small commotion had risen already. The few guards that weren't on duty elsewhere were approaching the location of the hole in the wall, weapons drawn and ready. The guard post was hidden behind a treeline and quite afar from the main site where Wulfa's party was taking place, so only one or two guests were commenting on the strange sound they had just heard.

The first guard to reach the hole, a sergeant, gulped and peeked inside. From the outside, he could only hear confused shouting, but he didn't get to see much of the inside. A horrific creature flew out, screeching and burning. It looked humanoid, but it was extremely skinny, had long legs, long arms and an almost skeletal head.

Its whole front had been turned to cinders, exposing the bleak bones beneath the skin. The damages were great, but apparently not enough to stop the creature. It got back up and looked at the sergeant. The guard couldn't make out its expression as his face was comprised of a mix of charred skin and yellow bone, but he was pretty sure he was its next target.

"What are you waiting for?! Send this thing back to where it came from!"

After what he recognized as his Lord's voice, a volley of spells came from the hole again.

 **[Telekinesy]!**

Multiple weapons including a large battleaxe came flying out of the building and wounded the creature at multiple places.

 **[Steel spike]!**

A meter-long metallic lance caught the creature by the belly and pinned it to a nearby tree, preventing it from moving whatsoever.

 **[Volcanic slash]!**

A crescent-shaped wave of insufferable heat caught the creature right on the front, making it screech even more than before and turning the tree in a giant torch in a matter of seconds.

 **[Overload: Improved magic missile]!**

A spear, or rather a thick stake of yellow magic light hit the creature's shoulder, brutally tearing its right arm of the body.

 **[Mark of punishment]!**

A purple crosshair appeared just above the creature's head. At that point, the sergeant could barely hear its screech.

 **[Deep sea's pressure]!**

A translucent ball of water the size of a fist was aimed at the creature, but it curved its trajectory to pass through the purple crosshair and grew to the size of a large watermelon. It encapsulated the creatures head and it simply exploded, staining the clear water with blood. Then, the sphere of water lost its cohesion and fell.

Yup. It definitely wasn't screeching anymore.

 **[Flesh displacement]!**

The creature's left leg disappeared, then reappeared a meter away.

 **[Corrosive rain]!**

A miniature cloud appeared above the creature, and droplets of a yellowish liquid started raining, ruining the already ruined flesh and bones.

The absolute bombardment of spells kept on coming for ten to fifteen more seconds, before Wulfa's voice was heard again.

"Enough. I said enough! It's dead!"

And indeed. It was enough.

Well. Saying it was enough may have been the understatement of the century. Of the original body, only a piece of flesh was left where the steel spike had pinned it to the tree. Speaking of the tree, it was barely holding on. It had been so much damaged it was a wonder of it still held on. The area on the ground was ruined too. Puddles of acid, scorched marks, a few droplets of blood miraculously not evaporated by the heat, chunks of meat here and there and ice remains.

The sergeant was so overwhelmed he didn't react until Wulfa clacked his fingers right in front of his face.

"Sergeant! Listen to me!"

The sergeant snapped out of his bewilderment and stood at attention.

"Yes, my lord!"

"Take all the guards here and establish a perimeter. No one is allowed in. No one can see that place. You've seen nothing. You've heard nothing. Did I make myself clear?"

"Yes, my lord!"

Wulfa turned around and addressed all the guards that stood around.

"That order is for every single one of you. Did I make myself clear?"

This time, all the guards around answered by the positive and left the clearing. Once it was sure no one else was present, Armant and Li Wei came out of the building while the remaining Truthpiercers made sure to capture the unconscious traitor still inside.

"Are you sure the guards won't talk?"

Wulfa chuckled lightly at Armant's question.

"Oh no, they're extremely loyal to me. The perks at working in my mansion is that they are offered training and equipment, their families live protected, they are offered stable jobs and the children are given education. Unless one is particularly stupid, they won't risk losing these advantages."

Wulfa showed the dagger that the woman had used to summon the demon to Armant.

"You were right on one thing your highness, demons are involved into this matter. This dagger is a [Sacrificial blade], an item that is commonly found among cultists and demonists. I've had enough demonists on my land to know about it."

Unfortunately, this was true. It was commonly known that in Wulfa's territory, a strange ruin was disturbing the forces of magic, which allowed the inhabitants to have an innate ability to understand magic. However, it also attracted many monsters and ill-intentioned people. Despite many attempts, the ruin had resisted multiple armies and seemed impervious to siege engines. It was one of the world's wonders, one that the scholars never even came close to understanding.

"So… What now, Wulfa? Do you need help to investigate that traitor?"

The lord looked behind and sighed. The unconscious traitor was being hauled by the remaining Truthpiercers somewhere else, stripped of everything but a loincloth to make sure he didn't hide a dagger anywhere.

"I will investigate this personally, your highness. If my negligence was one of the reasons for this whole plot… Then it is my duty to repair it. You can rest easy. I will send you a message in a few days when my investigation is complete."

Armant smiled.

"Such a show of loyalty is heartwarming to see, Lord Wulfa. It is good to know there are people such as you in the high ranks of the kingdom."

Wulfa grumbled in his beard a few seconds.

"It is sad that someone is trying to turn our country upside down, your highness. If only more people did their duty, none of that would have happened… I suggest you leave before you catch an unwanted eye."

"You're most definitely right, Lord Wulfa. I wish you the best in your investigation."

With these parting words, Armant left the mansion followed by Li Wei. Under the cover of the night and a cloak to hide the flashy clothes, they made their way back to the inn. Now all that was left to do was to wait for Wulfa's message.

* * *

Armant had to wait three days to get any news from Lord Wulfa. During this time, Erina was focusing on recovering. To her excitation, she could feel that her control over magic power was returning. Despite the healer from the Ciela church coming daily to give the appropriate medicine telling her to not cast anything, she couldn't help but cast tier one or tier two spells just to feel that empowering moment when one could alter reality by his mere will.

Meanwhile, Armant and Li Wei were staying low. The events at Lord Wulfa's mansion would surely be discovered by other nobles in time, so the duo stayed at the inn. In order to stay fit, Li Wei started to impart her knowledge to Armant, teaching him some moves that could save his life should he be in a pinch. Three days weren't enough to learn any fancy move, but maybe, just maybe the teaching would be useful.

On the third day, just as Li Wei was teaching him the right position to strike with his fist, the innkeeper came with a letter and a small chest in his hands. Immediately, Armant went into Erina's room to read the letter together while Li Wei stayed in front of the door to ensure no one would eavesdrop.

Both stayed silent as they read the contents of the paper flattened on a table inbetween.

 _Your highness Armant Electra,_

 _I have successfully completed my investigation to your desires. Below is a shortened version of the complete results, should you need the whole thing I have written it on the back of this letter._

 _The two traitors amidst the Truthpiercers were tasked with creating this Iron Seal you spoke of, recreating my signature to hide their doing. It is a modified version of my Iron Mark, which makes one a vessel for a certain spell. I am not sure yet which spell is it, but I assume it to be malicious in nature. Why would one accept to have such a spell placed in him? I Don't have a clear answer yet._

 _The tattoo propagates itself somehow. My experimentations have shown that if an unmarked subject accepts to do something evil for the sake of a marked subject, the unmarked would become marked. Knowing that, it is very important to stop this very quickly. Should this strange tattoo propagates any further, a sizable portion of the population could become "infected", with unknown effects._

 _I found out about "Derul". He is a Son of the Night, it is the code name of Al Shafah, one of their leaders. I believe he is commanding a portion of the armed forces of the Sons. According to the informations I found in a criminal den I had to clear, he is supposed to be headed to Fraham currently. If you take a carriage with haste, I believe you should be able to find him and about who's the mastermind. You should prepare for a lengthy fight or infiltration, he will be heavily guarded._

 _I wish you luck in your endeavour. I would help you, but I have also found out about a similar plot in my lands. I have to deal with it with utmost priority. I have sent you a chest which I hope will help you._

 _With my utmost respect,_

 _R.W  
_

Well this was bad news. Fraham was a city a week and a day away from travel, and with the teleportation gates down they could only hope that they would arrive in time. Opening the chest, Armant could see that he had given them emergency items should they need it. Enchanted bandages, potions of the highest grade, wands and a pouch filled with gold coins. Erina was the first to raise her voice.

"Armant! We need something that can get us there quickly, go for it while I prepare myself with Li Wei to leave!"

He nodded and darted out of the room, surprising Li Wei who now hesitated between following Armant or staying to protect Erina. Her problem was solved when Erina prompted her to prepare to leave immediately, and to help her.

With the threat of the mark propagating more and more as time passed, speed was essential. To resolve that predicament, Armant came back at the inn with three strange animals on a leash. They looked like giant birds with soft, almost fluffy yellow feathers. On their head two black eyes and an orange beak made them almost look like a canary. A big, large canary that could very well break bones of someone threatening them with their powerful legs. These were Rheas. A Rhea is a flightless bird which lives usually on plains, but which developed strong legs to compensate the loss of flight. They could run slower than a horse, but much, much longer. It was said that a Rhea could run a whole day with a rider and his pack on his back, and not be tired when the night would come.

The three of them hopped on the Rhea's backs, and immediately ran for the gates of the town. People swore at them as they ran at a moderate speed, nearly knocking down stalls and pushing people out of the way. They only slowed down at the gate to not garner too much attention, and immediately went full speed ahead once the walls were passed.

The days passed insufferably slow. Despite the Rheas running without a stop and only stopping to rest each night, it felt like even that was not fast enough. Derul, or rather Al Shafah was so close yet so far. He might very well be the key to resolve all of this plot.

Armant and Erina also talked during the trip. Mostly about mundane things to pass the time, but also preparing for every situation they could think of. By the time they would arrive, Erina was pretty sure she would be able to cast a **[Clearwater illusion]** to allow them to pass undetected to catch Al Shafah. Armant however was more reserved, he didn't want Erina to strain herself so soon after her recovery (which wasn't even complete yet).

The prince liked more the idea of a frontal confrontation. With Li Wei, himself and the help of the town guard they should be able to storm into wherever Al Shafah was hiding. Both ideas held their own merits so it was hard to choose. Li Wei herself didn't decide, she was content with going for whatever decision her employer (and even more because he was of royal family) would choose.

Another potential clue on the mastermind was the town they were going in, Fraham. After looking at a map, they had realized it was part of Lord Cuthel's territory. Now, that didn't mean anything. It could very well be what the mastermind wanted them to think. Nothing held him from leading them into a town owned by another noble to clear some suspicion. But that didn't clear Cuthel completely either. After all, one of the two remaining main suspects Armant had thought of were Lord Cuthel and Lord Acan.

There were also other facts which led to Cuthel, but they were way more obscure. About three hundred years ago, the whole north-eastern nobles of the country had tried to revolt to form their own country. That didn't go well, mainly thanks to the Cuthel family. The family head of that time had been part of the rebels, but had betrayed them once the royal army came way too close for his comfort, earningnthe right for his family to keep the land despite him being part of the original rebels.

That was over three hundred years ago! Could the current Lord Cuthel hold a grudge still for that time? It was hard to believe. Then again, nobles were known to be fantastically stubborn.

Apart from the growing nervousness at the confrontation the come, the trip had been uneventful. However, things started to change once they reached the territory owned by Cuthel. It was hard to tell what changed. It was a mix of heavy atmosphere, mean looks from passer-by's, hands a bit too close to weapons and way more patrolling soldiers than usual. After asking them what was causing this, they answered by telling that the criminal activity in the region had grown leap and bounds recently. Whole villages were found empty of their occupants overnight and strange sighting had been reported multiple times.

Erina and Armant looked at each other with knowing looks. Something fishy was definitely happening. There were still a day and a half to reach Fraham, and that atmosphere only strengthened as they closed the distance.

They finally reached the city the next day. It was a relatively rich town, coming from the fact that a river passed through it and brought trade. The guards at the gate looked nervous and kept looking in the distance. The inhabitants, merchants, craftsmen all sported anxious expressions on their face, and curiously there was not a beggar in sight.

After leaving the Rheas at an outpost, they made their way into the city. From there, they had to find where Al-Shafah was hiding. They were currently in a central place, sitting on a stone bench.

Armant looked around, hoping for a source of inspiration but none came. None of the buildings surrounding the place stood out, only what looked like a mayor's mansion a few blocks away was worthy of note. As he looked at it, he started to notice something strange.

"We should start by a poor's district tavern. In my opinion it's where we'll find information about who we look for. Now, when I asked earlier-"

Erina was interrupted by her brother who grabbed her shoulder. Turning around, her eyes widened when she saw what he was seeing.

A giant pillar of crimson light shot up from the mansion up to the sky. Around them, people looked into the same direction with worried whispers while some others already ran as fast as they could.

"We… We're too late…"

For Armant, it was finished. They had not been fast enough. All this time. All these dangers. Was it all of naught? Fortunately, Erina renewed his flickering hope.

"No… No! If it's a ritual… Maybe we can still stop it! Come on! Li Wei, go ahead and clear the way!"

Still shocked, the martial artist nevertheless nodded and pushed people aside as she advanced, allowing Erina who was almost dragging her brother to follow quickly. As time passed, the crimson glow only intensified and an uncomfortable atmosphere settled in the air. It didn't take long for panic to spread among the citizenry. More and more people could be seen heading to the gate, some on carts but most by foot. Some others barricaded their homes, only a few had taken up arms and were heading into the pillar's direction. A few guards were trying to lead the panicked crowd safely, but most of them were running along.

The outskirts of the mansion were already empty when they reached it. The guards having left their station, Li Wei had no choice but to kick the door open. The interior had been mostly vacated as well. They only met a maid who was stuffing a bag with all the valuables she could get her hands on.

She tried to run, but Li Wei was faster. She grabbed her and forced her to sit on a chair while Erina approached.

"What is happening here?! Tell me!"

"The… The master's gone crazy! He told us to not come to work today but I had to! My children are-"

"Get to the point! Where is he?!"

She cowered under Erina's presence.

"In… In the garden, there's a crypt! He always goes there and forbids anyone from even looking inside!"

Without paying the maid any more heed, they immediately ran further into the mansion up to the back. Now that they were closer, they could hear some kind of chanting.

But once on the garden, they couldn't find the crypt.

The reason: the large pillar of light had obliterated everything in its path. Of the trees, flowers, grass, herbs and earth, nothing was left. And the radius of the pillar kept expanding, little by little.

"Oh… So Beras didn't do his job properly… Greetings, your highness. Or should I say your highnesses? I didn't expect the princess to come too…"

They looked for the origin of the voice and Li Wei pointed upwards after a while. On a balcony overlooking the garden, three people were standing and looking at the crimson light. A scrawny man who looked terrified, an old woman in a purple robe, and a particularly fat man dressed in rich clothes.

Armant and Erina recognized him immediately. He was one of the ten great nobles, Lord Cuthel. And also one of the culprits they suspected. Li Wei and Erina wasted no time. If he could be stopped, then they would try everything in their power.

Li Wei's feet glowed green as she muttered **[Tiger's agility]** and she jumped way higher than a normal human could, shouting. Her aim was perfect, her strength was greater than needed to kill, yet it wasn't enough. Her extended feet were blocked by a magic barrier and she was sent back to the ground. Similarly, Erina's **[Thunder grenade]** lightly damaged the balcony, but kept the people on it unscathed.

"Oh, no, not like that. You won't be able to reach me. Look! The ritual's finished."

Cuthel pointed his right arm up, showing the sky. There, red thunder crackled, forming a line. Then, the thunder started to separate, forming two lines that extended to form an oval shape. In the interior of the oval, the sky wasn't blue anymore. It was a mix of red, black, purple, blue and yellow. Armant, Erina and Li Wei could only watch as the slow realization of their failure settled in.

All Erina could muster was a weak voice.

"Just… Why?..."

The fat lord almost puffed out of indignation.

"Why? Why you ask? The demonic invasion was only a vanguard, during the goblin invasion a few months ago. I knew it wasn't the end. Why would anyone attack like that, only to check our defences? It was only a foreshadowing. No one believed me. Your father? Pfft. He ignored me. So I contacted all the planes I could, and only hell answered. A demon by the name of Jaldabaoth answered me. He showed me what would become of the country if we did nothing. A hellish landscape, with a humanity forced to toil in scorched fields along with undead! He also promised to give me power. So I did it. And there you have it, in front of you is the savior of Rida!"

She was in disbelief. She knew Cuthel was of the particularly cunning sort. So why would he do that? Accepting a deal, any kind of deal was extremely dangerous…

"And here's the part where the villain describes his plans, and where the hero saves the day, is it not your highnesses? But no. Today I win, and you lose. Today I am the hero. Today I fight fire with fire…"

Out of the now opened portal in the sky, countless demons started pouring out, flying or falling into the city.

"Have fun in the capital as demons rampage through the capital, while I will be perfectly fine leading demons against demons! Oh, and I guess you shouldn't really worry about that. This city is the payment for the contract after all. I should wish you good luck to get out…"

With that, Cuthel walked back into the building, followed by the two other individuals.

Erina and Armant were in shock. They had lost. They could hear nothing, only stay there, unmoving, as literal hell awakened in the city. Not even Li Wei shouting reached them.

It was all over. Now all was left was to try to survive.

* * *

At the same time, many similar occurrences happened around the continent. Demons started to appear in the already bruised Re-estize kingdom, the Baharuth empire, the Algrand Republic, the Slane Theocracy and many other places, leading to immediate chaos.

The leaders were clueless, the army was disorganized, the population was panicking, temples were converting and adventurers preparing to fight. In a matter of hours, at least ten cities fell to demonic hordes, and many more were on the verge of collapse.

A quite literal apocalypse had just begun.

* * *

Light steps echoed in a large room. The place oozed luxury and glittered with treasures. A literal sea of gold coins, jewels, enchanted items, scrolls and every luxury imaginable laid around a large ivory staircase leading to a platform, on which a large throne was settled. The walls of the room couldn't be seen, but a single white source of light above brought the attention to the throne and the throne alone.

The steps came from a stunningly beautiful woman wearing a light plate armor. On her back, a large great bow and a quiver of arrows left no hesitation about her station. Walking up the high staircase took her a full five minutes, and when she finally reached the top she knelt immediately.

In front of her was her master, sat in the large throne. At first sight, he looked almost like a statue. A statue of a knight in a heavy plate armor, holding the handguards of a large two-handed sword stuck in the ground in front of him.

"Master."

The knight didn't move for a long while, the woman left kneeling without a word. Finally, a twitch of a finger showed a sign of life. Slowly, the knight started to move from his original position. His hands left the handguards of the sword, his helmet raised to look in front of him and his back straightened. Each movement displaced a cloud of dust which fell and gathered at his feet. He muttered something, and the dust immediately disappeared, showing his original appearance.

His armor was silver in color, almost white and finely engraved with depictions of battles of epic proportions. His right shoulder pad looked like a golden roaring lion, while the left looked like a silver howling wolf. His body was entirely encased in metal, and his face hidden by a closed helmet with a red plummet on top.

"I can sense it… How many years has it been since last time?"

His voice was deep, almost as a storyteller trying to enthral his audience. But it also hinted a bit of sadness and inner pain.

"Exactly three hundred and seventy-two years, master."

He sighed and stayed silent for a few minutes.

"Why are We feeling so… entitled to this world…"

The woman didn't give an answer. She didn't have one.

"Why are We here…"

Again, there was a long moment of silence. Finally, the knight started to move. He raised slowly from his throne and grabbed his sword, yanking it out of the ground. Standing, he was at least two times taller than the woman. The sword was placed in his back, and he started to walk out from his throne, down the stairs.

"Come… And wake up the inner circle… We will need them to clean Those that do not belong in this world… Again…"

In the large throne room, now two steps echoed as they walked down the stairs, the silence only interrupted by the woman acknowledging the order.

After more than three hundred years of inactivity, the world would learn once again of Arendal the deliverer.

* * *

In another part of the world, a certain demon by the name of Demiurge was extremely satisfied with himself. The seeds he had planted a few months ago had bloomed perfectly to his liking. Of course, he liked the chaos he had caused by his demonic nature, but also because the mysterious enemy had reacted like he expected him to.

After causing demonic outbreaks a little over all the continent, the mysterious enemy had panicked and started to send powerful fighters to repress the demons. Of course, he hadn't done everything himself. Even he didn't know the map of the whole continent yet, even less all the cities. But by sending a few demons of his own into this world's hell, he had managed to gain quite a few new followers who were more than happy to do his bidding. What he gave them to cause all these outbreaks was an item called [The End of Times].

In the previous world where Ainz Ooal Gown was still called Momonga, this item summoned a middle-to-high tier group of demons which could be used as fodder or sacrificial pawns by high-level players. But in this world… It quite literally summoned a force strong enough to cause the end of times. And he had used it in multiple places. Demiurge even suspected Lord Ainz had done the experiment with the [Horn of the goblin general] to this end.

In addition, the "interrogation" of the magic caster they had captured along with the inspection of their den had given enough information to guess a general area for the enemy's main base. Thanks to a careful magic screening, they had managed to detect the enemy moving his forces and by triangulation had reduced the area of the potential enemy base.

He was now in front of the large doors leading to the throne room. There, Ainz Ooal Gown waited for him. Once the door opened by themselves and he entered, he couldn't help but stop and admire the sight in front of him.

The finely engraved walls. The polished floor. The prismatic candelabras. The towering columns. The glittering flags inlaid with the crest of the guild. The majestic throne, and on it his master, Ainz Ooal Gown, knelt in front of him were the remaining floor guardians who weren't busy with work.

Nazarick's throne room was truly a place befitting the greatest of the supreme beings.

Repressing a smile, he made his way near his fellow floor guardians and knelt as well. Albedo raised her head and spoke.

"We floor guardians pledge eternal loyalty to our master, Ainz Ooal Gown. Long may be his reign!"

"Long may be his reign!"

All the floor guardians repeated the last sentence, followed by a long silence. Then, Ainz got up from his throne, arms raised.

"Good. Good! Such a sight pleases me, floor guardians. Raise your heads."

They all raised their heads as one, looking at their master with awe. The aura he released, his appearance, the way he majestically sat down again, everything confirmed their loyalty.

"Now, we are here for something else. Demiurge, I believe you have information to pass onto your comrades about our enemy. All of you! Listen carefully! Information is vital in a war. Because yes! This is a war! One that may bring a worthy challenge to Nazarick!"

All the guardians focused on the demon who raised and advanced a few step, as to embrace all the guardians in his view.

"Indeed I have, Lord Ainz. Our enemy is a player from the old world. However, I do not know what strength he has. However! I fear he may have wild magic users on his side, or knows how to use it himself."

Gasps were released by the audience. They knew that Wild magic or Soul magic was something inherent to this world. The problem was that none of them knew how to use it, or defend against it. Their only source of information about it was Erina Electra, the woman who mysteriously escaped from their sight. Well, now that they knew about the enemy, it was more likely that she managed to escape because of the enemy killing the pursuers.

"That is very worrying. That means they have a weapon we do not know how to defend against…"

Albedo's statement summed up everyone's thoughts.

"It is indeed worrying Albedo. However, we have advantages. First of all, it's time. By my investigations, I deduced that the enemy has been in this world for more six or seven centuries. That means that the mortal members of his retinue may have died of old age, thus reducing the power he can muster."

While this sentence was a bearer of good news, it also reminded a bittersweet reality: not everyone in Nazarick would be granted to serve Ainz Ooal Gown for eternity. Aura, Mare, but also all the mortal races that were part of Nazarick. Of course, their lifespan could be extended or they could be returned from death, but everything had its limits.

"A second advantage we have is that we have an ample supply of consumables. It is likely that the player we face has used up a lot of Yggdrasyl consumables over the course of time. Maybe he has found a way to manufacture new items, but it isn't certain. Scrolls, for example. The same goes for the material needed to manufacture these items. Of course, that doesn't mean we should use up all of our supplies, but we have them in case of emergency. And lastly, I actually know the name of our enemy, but nothing more. Lord Ainz, does the name "Arendal" rings a bell to you?"

Ainz took a moment to refresh his memories, but such a name didn't remind him of anything in particular. After all, there were so many players and so much guilds in the game that one would be hard-pressed to even know half of the players of a single world out of the nine worlds. But that also meant another thing: Ainz Ooal Gown was a PK guild, and as such knew of its competitors and targets. If Ainz didn't know of it, that meant that the player or the guild he was part of never stood out. Either the guild wasn't very powerful, either they were very, VERY good at hiding their power.

But of course, he couldn't say the floor guardians he didn't know of Arendal. He was the mighty Ainz Ooal Gown after all, the one that had predicted everything ten thousand years in advance.

"Arendal, huh? Well, he wasn't very important, back in the day. His current power must come from the use of wild magic as you said, Demiurge."

The demon smiled. It felt good to have one's theory approved by the master of the supreme beings.

"Well then, you all know what we are about to face. Albedo, you should stay here, the rest of you should go back to what you were doing. We have to prepare…"

One by one, the guardians left the throne room after bidding their farewell to their master. With only Ainz, Albedo and Demiurge left inside, it was now time to prepare.

* * *

 **Hello there, author here**

 **Wow, finally reaching the end. It feels good to see something I've been working on for more than a year reaching fruition.**

 **Now how do you think will the story finish? Armant, Erina and Li Wei alive? Arendal winning? Ainz winning? How's the world going to change because of the events? Hehehe...**

 **Feel free to review, everything's welcome and I answer by PM to every question.**

 **Oh, and merry christmas in advance!**

 **See you next publication!**


	24. Chapter 23: A battle of giants

_Taktaktaktaktak…_

" _Hey! Get that back here!"_

 _A few seconds of silence pass. Then the various noises come back._

" _Where's the shovel?" "Soldier! Go tell them we'll need more wood!" "Yes sir!"_

 _Taktaktaktak…_

Because of the noise, Erina's sleep was cut short. The noise of the various soldiers working in the distance did little to cure her headache and the cloth of her tent didn't block much of the noise.

Groaning, she got up from the uncomfortable bed and walked up to a small mirror standing on a short table. She splashed a bit of water on her face and passed a hand through her hair to straighten it up.

Once washed, dressed, fed and ready, she grabbed her staff and got out of the tent.

"My Lady."

She nodded at the two guards who greeted her and started to climb up the hill she was on. Looking back, it was a miracle she even survived the last days.

After Cuthel had opened a rift to hell, they had all ran wildly. Li Wei, Armant, Erina, the inhabitants from Fraham, the soldiers, the mercenaries, the guards, nearly all of them. The few that fought back were utterly decimated by the sheer number of demons flooding the city.

All of it had happened in some sort of haze. A strange mix of red, black, white, hot, cold, metal and blood. A few scenes flashed in her mind:

An old woman pouring a pot of boiling water on an imp attacking her.

A few guards barricaded in a guard's post, annihilated by a towering demon who broke the walls in a single swing of its large hammer.

Incubuses walking into a temple from which suspicious cries and shouts came out.

Something which looked like a mass of flesh, simply absorbing everything it touched.

A young man, bravely but uselessly standing in front of his beloved against a group of five hell hounds ready to pounce.

An incredibly fat human-looking demon, releasing pus and flies from his numerous wounds which nested into the many corpses already littering the streets.

Amidst all this horror, she managed to stay sane thanks to Li Wei's clear voice cutting through the filth and Armant's shouts as he drove his sword into demonic flesh. Her mastery of magic also had helped. A lot. She had finally regained full control over her powers, and the feeling of each spell hitting its target did well in reassuring her that she wasn't powerless. Far from it in fact.

In the end, the trio managed to get out of Fraham with a group of twelve survivors and joined the long line of refugees leaving the town, intent on putting as much distance as possible with… Whatever had been called from the depth of hell.

Thankfully, such an event didn't go unnoticed at all. During the third day, they met an army that had been hastily formed and sent in urgency at Fraham. Seeing it gave back hope to Erina and Armant. Maybe they would be able to redeem their fault? Even if it wasn't by their own hands, maybe they could do something to prevent what they failed to prevent in the first place.

As soon as they revealed their identities, they had been permitted to speak to the leader who turned out to be none other one of the king's strategists, Melkar Haldi. In fact, he was one of the people that had taught Armant military strategy.

After a quick discussion, the army had retreated back to the Griffon's Claw pass. As soon as the encampment had been set up, Erina and Armant had been given a few precious hours to get some sleep they had sorely lacked the last days.

With the sleep and some potions, she felt quite rested. It was now dusk and the sun was setting, bringing in a fresh air that would make the soldier's work more bearable. She reached the top of the hill and entered the command tent. There, a few people were already talking over a map.

Armant was speaking with a bearded bald man in quite rich clothes, purple in color and lined with gold and silver threads. His clothes weren't really fit for the situation, but he had to leave the court in a hurry on the king's personal orders. He was Melkar Haldi himself, and beside him were two younger similarly dressed men, discussing while observing the map laid out on the table in front of them.

"Ah, lady Electra! Please come in, we were about to start!"

At Melkar's invitation, Erina greeted everyone and joined them around the table. Once everyone was focused, the strategist presented the situation.

"Your highnesses, I was sent by the king himself along with an army. With me are my two students. This, is the Griffon's Claw pass. As you can see, we have quite an advantage here."

Indeed, the layout of the terrain totally gave the advantage to the Ridan army. The Griffon's claw pass was a narrow valley between two mountains with steep sides. Because of that, climbing them was extremely difficult. Even more, on each side was a dense forest. Thanks to the narrow pass, the humans would be able to face only a fraction of the demonic horde instead of facing its full might. Just behind the pass, a hill was placed, the very same hill they were on right now.

"The army I brought with me was formed with extreme haste, and as such some resources are lacking right now. Most notably cannons. I only managed to bring twenty Macarius models."

This was an advantage and a disadvantage in itself. The older Macarius cannon model could only shoot normal cannonballs of lead, iron or even steel, contrary to the more recent Merick model (named after the king of course) which fired heavier and enchanted cannonballs. It was a model designed for field use rather than siege defence. However, that also meant that ammunition for the Macarius models could be brought in greater quantities. Of course, the lacking numbers was also a problem.

"We also lack tents, I don't know how many days of food and water we have and the supplies section is still trying to make head or tail of the consumables and their quantity that were strapped on top of the chariots. Oh, and also we lack horses for our cavalry. However!"

He took a moment to breathe.

"His majesty your father has promised reinforcements in the coming days. Until then, we will have to do with what we have… Now, how should we take on that situation at hand? I have already ordered the men to build defences, but with the time constraint it will be not much more than a trench and wooden pikes."

There was a short moment of silence as everyone studied the map in front of them, then Armant spoke what was on everyone's mind.

"I think the simplest strategy would be to use the valley to our advantage and funnel the enemy into facing an organized killzone. With the cannons placed on the hill, they should be able to aim at high value targets before they can break our frontline. Melkar, how many troops have you brought in total?"

The strategist consulted a sheet of paper in his pocket.

"Roughly three thousand infantry, one thousand various ranged soldiers including archers and crossbowmen, three hundred cavalrymen and the rest are from the logistics section. Enough cannoneers to man the twenty cannons and most importantly, six war mages from the Stargazers."

Armant whistled, showing his appreciation. War mages were already extremely powerful, but the order of the Stargazers was the most prestigious military organization in the country. Only the best were selected and even those had to follow a harsh training which only a small part survived.

He placed small wooden figurines on the map, each representing a group of five hundred soldiers in order to clarify his idea.

"One thousand five hundred soldiers on the frontline, their only job will be to hold the line. Behind them, half of the archers organized in divisions that we can move depending on the situation, and switch the two groups when they need to replenish ammunition. At the back, the last one thousand five hundred soldiers who we switch with the frontline every two hours in order to prevent exhaustion. Like I said earlier, the cannons placed on this hill in order to shoot high value targets. I'm thinking mainly of large demons, those that could be hardly dealt with by the regular infantry."

It seemed like a solid plan. However, Armant's inexperience in leading large armies showed to the strategist quite clearly.

"Excuse me your highness, but simply defending isn't going to do the trick. We need to be more aggressive if we want to avoid a situation where our soldiers are simply grind down by sheer numbers. I think we can use this."

He pointed to a place on the map dotted with small squares a bit further into the valley. There was a small lake near it.

"The scouts told me of this abandoned village. With appropriate planning, we could strike a big hit from there. But before that… Yes, they should be back by now."

Just as he finished his sentence, a soldier only wearing common clothes, a cape on his back and a dagger at his belt opened the tent and knelt. Without a word, he presented a rolled piece of paper to the strategist and left as soon as it was taken. Melkar Haldi read the content, frowning.

"Is it bad news, master?"

One of the students asked with worry in his voice.

"Quite bad news indeed. We will be severely outnumbered. They have twenty thousands."

With the humans outnumbered by four to one, it would indeed be a hard battle. However, with the terrain advantage it wouldn't be impossible.

"What about the composition of the enemy?"

The strategist kept on reading for a moment, then looked the others in the eyes.

"They have formations. That means they will have a commander and actual strategies instead of a blind rush. From what the report says, most of their soldiers seem to be foot soldiers. However flying demons and cavalry have been spotted too."

One of the students of the strategist raised his voice.

"I think I have an idea…"

* * *

A few hours later, everything was set in order to repel the demonic attack. The army had advanced a bit further into the valley, forming a frontline of one thousand five hundred soldiers spanning the entire width. Behind them, a group of five hundred archers was finishing setting up barrels full of arrows and the second group of one thousand five hundred soldiers formed the backline.

The unit of three hundred cavalrymen had been hidden behind the treeline not far, ready to ride out at any call. And lastly, on the hill were the cannon battery and the headquarters from where orders would be given.

The scouts had come back recently, and according to their last report the demonic army should enter the valley any moment now. From afar, the distinct noise of a marching army could already be heard.

A strange silence reigned in the ranks of the humans. Some of them whispered, some of them looked anxiously into the valley for the enemy and some of them made last-minute preparations, but everyone shared the nervousness of the battle to come. Veterans steeled for the clash and rookies tried to repress the fear at the idea of facing demons.

On top of the hill Armant, Erina, Melkar, his students and Li Wei looked at the scene, feverishly waiting. It was night-time, but the full-moon high up in the sky brought enough light to not impede the human's abilities too much.

A lot of things could go wrong, and all of them knew it all too well. Melkar had formed this army with extreme urgency, simply requisitioning the garrisons of the cities and forts he had passed along the way. They were good soldiers, but not the best.

The same could be said about the logistics of the army. The strategist had bought in bulk, sometimes at mind-boggling prices everything he could that would help the army. Healing potions had been shared to the sergeants and other consumables according to the strategy that had been put in place.

The biggest problem was the lack of mages. Despite, or rather because the Stargazers was the most powerful organization in the country their numbers were less than six hundred. When Melkar had called for a rally from them, the grandmaster had originally refused to send his men to such a dangerous battle. The only ones that came were those that had nothing to lose or wanted to test their mettle against the oldest and probably strongest enemy of mankind.

As such, extremely few mages had come to fight here. Counting Erina, only seven war mages in total were ready to rain down their spells. They were under Erina's command and waited nearby for any command.

Fortunately, Erina was an extremely talented mage. And mages respected more than anything talented mages. The probability of them fleeing the battle would be pretty low with her as the commanding officer.

Finally, the enemy revealed itself. Only the outlines could be seen in the distance, further reinforcing the feeling of mystery created by unnatural beings. It was like a dark tide, covering the ground.

Rida's men's fear started to grow. Now that the enemy was in sight, the threat seemed even more tangible than before. The most nervous rookies vomited, unease clearly showing on their faces.

In the quiet noise of the torches crackling and wind rustling, Melkar's voice seemed almost too loud.

"Do you know why men fear the night, your highness?"

A moment of silence passed.

"Because we cannot see what's in it?"

The strategist chuckled.

"Ah, a good answer... We fear it because we _imagine_ what we can't see. We see only the shadows, and assume the worst. I believe you should shed some light to our men. Banish the shadows, and tell them how to kill the enemy."

Armant was not one for speeches. He preferred direct and efficient actions. But he could see why his men were worried. A lot of them had never seen a demon in their life, even less fought one. He signalled Erina and she understood directly.

She muttered something, and her hand glowed blue as she placed it on Armant's throat. He nodded to thank her and cleared his throat. His magnified voice swept over the army, catching everyone's attention.

"Men! Do not fear!"

The whole army was now silent, everyone was listening.

"I know you're afraid. Who isn't afraid of demons? Only the fool or the bravest would remain calm upon this sight. But let me assure you! They can be killed! I had to flee myself along with the princess from Fraham, three days ago. And you know what they did? They _feared_ us. They feared my sister's magic. They feared my steel! Even their champion couldn't stand our wrath! A blade to the throat or an arrow to the skull will act as good on a demon as on a man! They have more troops? Preposterous! Every man in front of me is worth at least ten of theirs! They have towering beasts? Our cannons will bring them to their knees! So, show them! Show them was men are made of! Will we let them pillage our lands?"

Silence. No one spoke. Until a single weak voice cut through the night, coming from the ranks.

"No, we won't!"

After that, the soldiers started speaking among themselves. The discussions slowly turned into shouting.

"Will we let them kill our brothers, sisters, sons, daughters, husbands and wives?"

The shouting turned into furious denials.

"Will we let them enslave us? Turn us into food? Toys?"

The morale was at its peak! Even the young soldiers, those that never fought for their lives had forgot the fear, only to be replaced by an almost zealous fury.

"Drive your blade into their flesh! Shoot your arrows into their eyes! We are men and women, show them how we fight! Show them that we won't go down without a fight! Take out your weapons and show them to the enemy! Tell them how will you kill with it! And after that, watch them die, for we will have deserved victory! Sound the war drums!"

 _THUM thum thum thum…  
THUM thum thum thum…  
THUM thum thum thum…_

…

From behind Armant the loud sound of the traditional war drums added to the noise. These were not enchanted or anything. They were just designed to make as much noise as possible. The men unconsciously started to breathe in rhythm to the drums, filling them with courage.

While Armant spoke, the enemy had come much closer. Now, the time for preparation was over. Now, was the time to fight.

* * *

The men on the frontline could now see the face of their enemy. Most of the demon army was comprised of what looked like surprisingly common foot soldiers. Some had blue skin, some had yellow skin, some had an extra limb or additional organs, but overall, they were humanoid demons wearing a simple chainmail, a conical helmet, a round shield and a one-handed weapon. Most of them seemed to wield maces, but a few had other weapons glowing in a suspicious manner. Thankfully, the cannons proved just as effective as they were expected to. Each cannonball drew a crimson line in the enemy ranks, tearing limbs apart and instilling shock into the demons.

Commanding her own group of one hundred men, Valera was really surprised that demons had such simple equipment. Even as the daughter of a poor, minor noble family she had been educated and thought of demons as much more dangerous enemies. The arrows had already started to rain on them, and she burned into her memory each picture of arrows piercing demonic flesh. They could bleed. And they could die! Now that she had seen that, her worry and fear were replaced by her training.

"Unsheathe your weapons!"

All the one hundred men and women at her order took out their weapon simultaneously, making a loud noise. That was intentional. It had been repeated many times over when she had received command of the soldiers. By taking out the weapons all at once, it boosted a soldier's morale. It told each soldier "Yes you're fighting, but at your side you have one hundred other soldiers who will fight just as hard.".

She took out her own weapon and raised it high up in the air, it was a sword with engravings on its hilt. This was the only magic item she could afford with her pay, along with the enchanted ring her family gifted her the day she enrolled in the army.

"Forward!"

From her position on the right flank, she could see many similarly ranked soldiers ordering their soldiers forward on the left flank. However, the soldiers at the center of the formation held their ground. It made her curious, but she quickly dismissed it. She had been giver her orders, and she would apply them.

As she led her own column of men, she came close enough to see the demons in the light brought by torches that had been planted in the ground earlier. Despite their poor equipment, their rolling muscles under each chainmail worried her. Would armor be enough to stop a blow? She herself wore a breastplate over a padded coat, a few plates to cover her limbs and a helmet, but would that be enough to defend against someone that could probably crush someone's head with their mere physical strength? She couldn't do anything but pray it would.  
However, she also noticed something else that filled her heart with joy. Each time a cannon spewed death, demons had a clear unease showing on their face and some of them even jumped in fear. And she understood it completely. The first time she had heard and seen a cannon shoot when she was young, she had thought it was thunder. And when she had seen there were no clouds in the sky, she started praying for the gods not to kill her. Her mother had quickly reassured her at that time, but there was no one to reassure the demons. All they knew was that some strange weapons made really loud noises and took more than ten of them with each shot.  
And she was perfectly alright with that.

"Weapons ready!"

As they marched closer and closer to the enemy, shields were raised, spears braced and faces steeled. They were still a bit too far. Forty meters… Thirty meters… Arrows stopped raining in order to avoid friendly wounds, cannons stopped barking. And now was the time for madness to begin.

"CHARGE!"

At her command, her own one hundred soldiers sped toward the enemy in a loud clamour, drowning their fear in the sound. Nearby, the four other captains leading their hundred men of the right flank shouted similar orders, launching their men into the melee.

The earth shaked from the hundreds, maybe even thousands of feet running towards each other. She saw a young soldier overtaken by zealotry running even faster than the others. She tried to call him back, but it was too late. He pierced a demon with his spear in a triumphant cry, but got immediately pummelled to death because he was alone.

She reached the enemy frontline just a few seconds after, making a blow slide over her with her shield and pierced a demon's leg. It fell on one knee, and she immediately bashed him in the face with the border of the shield, sending it sprawling to the ground. Before it could react, she drove her sword into its throat.

She saw one of her men to her right in a deadlock with a demon and immediately came to his aid, stabbing the demon's flank while the soldier pushed it back and dealt the finishing blow. Together, they took on another demon, quickly putting it down.

Blood had overtaken their minds, but not only the human's. The battle craze was universal for all soldiers in the heat of combat, and more than two thousand soldiers be it human or demon were battling, shouting, crying, bleeding and killing. This, was war.

* * *

The battle had begun just as expected. More than raw power, the cannons had an important impact on the demon's morale. At least according to the reports Armant had received.

But the weakness of the demons made his suspicious. Every demon he had passed while fleeing Fraham was way more dangerous than a common foot soldier. He shared his worries with Erina, Li Wei, Melkar and his disciples but no one had an answer. They were just glad to be facing such common demons. If they had to deal with stronger enemies along with the numerical disadvantage, it would have been a losing battle from the beginning.

According to the strategy that had been planned out, the left and right flank of the first one thousand five hundred battle group on the frontline initiated a pincer movement, trapping the demons between three sides and mercilessly slaughtering them. It took no longer than thirty minutes for them to lose their morale and start to flee. The cannonballs fired in their back was the last straw that provoked a mass rout.

Everyone in the commanding area expressed their relief at that first victory with different means. Melkar fell into a chair, wiping the sweat on his forehead. His students broke into a furious conversation, analyzing the reasons for victory. Li Wei allowed herself to smile. Armant looked warmly at the army. Erina released the tight grasp she had on her staff.

"Now, we can't rest on our laurels! This is only the beginning of the battle!"

At Armant's comment, everyone came back to the table with the map of the valley on it. This, indeed was only the first wave. Despite the numerical advantage, the valley was pretty narrow and the enemy general couldn't send his forces for an all-out assault. And he or she was pretty smart. Only a first wave of demons had been repelled, but the majority of the enemy was forming ranks a few hundred meters away from the human frontline.

Maybe it was prisoners from Fraham, maybe it was a devilish intelligence, but the enemy general had already figured out the nature of the cannon. The next wave of demons already approaching the frontline were in a loose formation, heavily negating the impact of each cannonball and arrows.  
Granted, it also made them more vulnerable to charges but with their numerical disadvantage the humans couldn't really afford to charge out too many times.

As they were discussing the next steps of the battle, the reports came in.

"Sir! Your highnesses! We have lost one hundred and twenty-seven men and two hundred wounded who are currently being healed, while inflicting an estimated five hundred casualties on their side!"

As the soldier left back into the battlefield, distress showed on the strategist's face.

"That's way too much! We won't be able to hold out for long like that!"

One of the students snickered with a contemptuous face.

"Pfft. What do you mean master? We dealt almost twice or thrice the amount of casualties they did to us! Even if they have larger numb-"

His sentence was interrupted by the strategist who surprisingly quickly for a man of his age, got up, raised his student into the air by the collar of his outfit and roared.

"Can't you understand?! How many times do I have to repeat it for you to understand?! A soldier isn't a tireless machine! A soldier will run out of stamina, supplies, weapons and will to fight! And what do you think of the enemy? Do you really think he'll keep employing the same tactics over and over again?"

The whole command camp was in total silence. Everyone was watching the old man, not expecting such an outburst from him. He quickly let go of his disciple, cleared his voice and focused back on the map.

"Please excuse my behaviour, things are already quite tense, I do not need to hear the nonsense of my students. So, as I was about to say, now that the enemy is aware of the strength of our cannons, they'll probably go for them. We have to prepare a counterattack."

Looking on the map, they were only two obvious paths for the enemy to attack the cannons. By passing through the dense forest on each side of the valley, it would be possible for an enemy force to sneak through it.

"I believe we can employ the same tactic for our frontline as before, that leaves us with three hundred cavalrymen, five hundred infantry and five hundred archers to work with. Should we split the infantry into two groups?"

Melkar studied Armant's idea for a moment, but he wasn't convinced.

"This will not be enough, your highness. We have to be more aggressive, do you remember? We have to strike first, before they can deal too much casualties on our side. I have a better idea…"

* * *

Just as it was expected, the demons came for the artillery. Two groups of what looked like hellhounds with a larger Cerberus leading each group had burst out of the forest, heading straight towards the battery.

On the right side, two hundred and fifty archers had baited the hellhounds with a few well-placed volleys, then retreated to leave enough space for the three hundred cavalrymen to make a devastating charge which killed the Cerberus leading the pack. With their leader dead, the hellhounds fell back into primal animal behaviour, making them easy targets for the heavily armoured knights.

The same couldn't be said for the left flank. A similar strategy had been employed with the archers, and then a group of five hundred infantry to deal with the pack.  
But they failed to. The Cerberus had killed three of the five captains leading the group, and the two remaining couldn't control such a large group making it fall into chaos. The soldiers no longer fought as a group, but as individuals and the hounds inflicted deep terror along with their flaming attacks.

Just at the same time, desperate cries came from the frontline. On the right side, large demons wielding two-handed axes were wreaking havoc in the human lines. The line had been disrupted and morale was clearly wavering, some soldiers already running while the right side of the second line of defence rushed to try to save their comrades.

Clearly, they had an answer. Erina and her mages. Even if they were only seven of them, they could annihilate each threat with their training as war mages. But here lied the problem. One war mage group. Two desperate situations both equally important.

In the end, Armant ran to a horse stationed nearby, and got on top of it while shouting.

"Li Wei, come with me! Erina, help the frontline!"

Li Wei jumped behind Armant while Erina nodded and called the mages, who immediately got on top of horses too and sped towards the frontline.

Melkar was left with his two disciples and the thirty foot knights, wandering how this battle would go. All he could do right now was to hope that everything would go in their favour. Allowing himself to relax a little bit, he sat on a chair and looked around.

He couldn't help but notice a small bird on top of one of the tents. It was red and green and looking around, probably trying to make out the situation. The old man couldn't help but chuckle and smile. Such a weak, such an innocent and pure life, and yet it was witnessing the battle that may very well mark the beginning of the end of humanity in this region.

As the bird flew away, the strategist followed it, admiring its speed for such a small animal.

And then he saw the sky.

And then his smile dropped.

And his chair fell as he abruptly got up, pointing to the sky in a silent scream.

* * *

When he arrived at the left flank, Armant realized the situation was far from ideal.

The chain of command was totally broken. Each soldier was fighting for its dear life, some had ran long ago. He managed to rally a group of thirty soldiers who were about to desert, but changed their mind when the prince came atop his horse.

"What's the situation? What caused this chaos?"

Those that heard the prince's question looked at each other embarrassingly, until one of them stepped forward and knelt.

"Your highness! It's… It's that beast! The moment we started to fight, it killed captain Bernard and captain Hugo! I don't know the captain of the third company, but he wanted to avenge them and got killed too!"

"What about the two others?"

"I don't… I don't know sir! Last time I've heard of them, they were trying to mount a defence over there!"

The soldier pointed in a direction and Armant looked there. From his elevated position he could clearly see that a group of soldiers had formed a ring and were trying to repel the relentless attacks of the hellhounds. On one side of the ring, two significantly better armed soldiers, probably the captains, were facing the Cerberus which was preparing to pounce.

"You there!"

He pointed to the soldier who had just spoken.

"Rally everyone! Tell them the Prince is here and that they need to regroup!"

"B-but…"

"Just do it!"

With that, the prince charged right into the melee into the direction previously mentioned. The warhorse he was riding was particularly heavy, and no hellhound risked being crushed under its hooves. He was still at least fifteen meters away when he saw that the Cerberus had jumped on one of the captains, pinning it down by putting its weight on the kite shield. The other captain was furiously hacking at the demonic hound with his two-handed sword, but the thick leathery skin prevented from inflicting life-threatening wounds.

"Li Wei! Save him!"

"Sir!"

She jumped from atop the horse in an elegant arc, aiming at the Cerberus. Mid-flight, her feet started to glow in a grey light and her voice cut through the noise of the battlefield.

"Die, demon! **[Ki disruption]!** "

Armant came a few seconds later to witness the Cerberus retreating a few steps, blood flowing out from its three open maws. It wasn't in great quantities, but at least it had been enough to disrupt the demon and force it to acknowledge the new threat.

It was growling at its two new opponents, and the two captains quickly reminded it to not underestimate them. While it was focused on Armant and Li Wei, the first one brought its two-handed sword and cut one ear from the right head, the second one brought his mace onto its paw and the dry noise of breaking bones forced it to retreat a little bit further to keep the four humans in its view.

Without warning, he lunged at Li Wei, clearly the biggest threat. She took it by surprise by jumping underneath him and using her feet to propulse it even further.

"You two! Go reorganize our men! I told them to rally on me, they should come here!"

One of the captains heavily protested.

"But sir, we can't leave you to deal with that… Thing!"

"Do it! It's that or we all get wiped out!"

It was with clear unease on their face that the two captains got back to leading their men into a counterattack.

Fortunately, it seemed the beast had a basic concept of honor and didn't let the other hellhounds attack the two humans while they were already engaged.

That, or it wanted to keep the tastiest meat for itself.

In a similar fashion, Armant had ordered his soldiers not to interfere. While they may be able to help, he was way better equipped to deal with the threat along with Li Wei and wanted to avoid unnecessary casualties.

The beast was the best described as a hulking canine beast, at least the size of a horse, with three jaws ready to tear anything it touched to shreds and paws with vicious claws. The three set of eyes followed cautiously the two humans, waiting for any opportunity.

Meanwhile, Li Wei and Armant looked for the weaknesses. For one thing, the right front paw had been damaged by the captain with his mace less than two minutes ago. The beast was lightly limping, but it didn't seem that much bothered by it.

The second advantage they had was that as a canine creature, the Cerberus could hardly defend from someone in its back and flanks.

The martial artist's skills had definitely injured it, and Armant wanted to capitalize on it.

"Li Wei, I won't be able to pierce its hide. I leave the killing to you."

She inhaled, then answered shortly.

"Alright."

As they were thinking about how to tackle the problem, apparently the Cerberus got fed up. His three maws filled with an orange light and he barked loudly. Two fireballs were aimed at Armant, while the third was aimed at the martial artist.

Not intent on taking head-on such an attack, the prince immediately ducked, but that was exactly what the enemy wanted. As soon as the firewalls were launched, it pounced on Armant and pinned him to the ground.

Taken by surprise, the prince couldn't do anything but hold his blade at the two extremities to block one maw from biting his head. The second one closed on his left forearm and luckily was completely blocked by the fogzephyr bracer which did its job wonderfully. The third one bit the right shoulder, not piercing the dragon leather but breaking bones from the sheer pressure applied.

Because of the excruciating pain, Armant couldn't hold the sword and had to release it. Thankfully, Li Wei didn't stay idle. As soon as she had managed to avoid the fireball coming at her, she had run to his aid and jumped on top of the Cerberus. Her hand glowed in magical light, and she brutally brought them on the ears of the head biting the shoulder.

And the pressure immediately stopped.

Most likely more surprised than hurt, it jumped back and buckled up to remove Li Wei from its back. She didn't stay any longer and came near Armant to help him. With her help, he uncorked a health potion and downed the liquid. It immediately soothed the pain and allowed him to focus back on the demon.

It was acting curiously, sniffing at its limp head and licking it a few times with no reaction. It looked almost as if it was sad.

"How did you do that?"

She smirked.

"Most people don't know it, but in most animals it's the ears that governs balance in the body. I just… Damaged them a bit."

Then, the demon did something surprising. The middle head tore the limp head apart and ate it in one bite, largely deforming its throat. The stump was bleeding, but it was quickly replaced by a reddish skin. It had only two heads left, the middle and the left one but it wouldn't be as much unbalanced now.

Only now, it was clearly furious. The growling had intensified, and its eyes reflected a bloodlust with little equal. However, it didn't affect Armant and Li Wei.

He had seen death personified. He had seen Ainz Ooal Gown, and he doubted anyone would ever equal his charisma. Comparing the two's threat level would be like comparing a seasoned soldier and an infant's.

She was unaffected. She had fought as a mercenary for the Black Dogs for many years. She had fought a greater demon and won. Her body and mind were that of a sharpened sword, both elegant and deadly, undisturbed by mere savagery.

This time, they took the initiative. Armant came at its front, slashing with his sword to keep the beast occupied while Li Wei came at its flank once more with glowing fists. The beast lunged back to avoid the bad predicament, but both of them pursued aggressively, keeping the distance short enough to threaten it and long enough to avoid the dangerous maws.

They ran through the battlefield, avoiding screaming men and wimping hellhounds, countless bodies littering the ground, zones emblazed by the hellhound's flaming attacks. Eventually, the beast stopped and raised on its two hind legs. Armant stepped back to remain a safe distance while the martial artist finally unleashed the attack she had been preparing.

The beast fell back on its four legs, but the whole area in front of it literally exploded before Li Wei's attack reached. She hit it with her opened palms, and it stopped moving.

It looked around with raised ears and ogling eyes, sometimes panting and sometimes growling, clearly confused. Both of them immediately used the opening.

Armant had noticed a warhammer laying on the ground earlier and picked it up. Then, he brought it down on the beast's already damaged leg, cleanly breaking it. Before it regained its mind, he repeatedly hit the other front leg until a similar result was achieved.  
Li Wei acted in a similar manner. With the help of magic and kicks, she reduced to a pulp the beast's hind legs.

It was too late when Li Wei's spell stopped affecting the Cerberus. It couldn't move anymore. In one last attempt to fight back it opened its two maws and the same light as before filled the gaping throat.

Armant sidestepped and let the first fireball fly harmlessly into the air while he striked the mutt's second muzzle, forcing to close it. The second fireball exploded inside with no visible damage.

From then on, it wasn't a fight anymore. Armant repeatedly hit with the blunt side of the warhammer, like a cook tenderizing a tough piece of meat. Li Wei used her martial arts to destroy organ after organ. At some point, some soldiers joined into the fray and started to hack furiously at the beast with their weapons. Bits of meat, bones and fur flew everywhere, accompanied by the men's furious roar and the demon dog's painful whining. Despite the formidable amount of pain being dealt to it, it took a full minute for it to stop breathing.

At the sight of the leader of the pack being brutally massacred, it didn't take long for the hellhounds to flee and provoke a mass rout.

Finally, the left flank was secured. But at what cost…

* * *

 _A little more than five minutes ago, on the frontline._

Chaos had taken hold of the frontline. At least on the right flank, there was no salvaging it until a miracle happened. Valera the captain had tried to hold her ground with her soldiers, but they simply couldn't.

The first engagement had filled her with hope. They had dealt with the demons quite easily! Thanks to the encirclement and the psychological shock of the cannons, the demons hesitated while fighting, leaving big openings for her and her soldiers. When they had managed to make them flee, they all shouted in victory! Defeat was just a faraway thought!

She had her soldiers quickly reform the ranks while the soldiers at the back replaced those at the front to let them rest and heal. Seeing the advancing next wave of demons, she had ordered to brace for impact.

Amidst the ranks of the enemy, she could see large demons holding a two-handed axe. They were quite tall, at least double the size of a human and wore some kind of dark plate armor and a helmet with an opening for the face.

Considering the armor she would have to deal with, she had sheathed back her sword to take out a mace. She swung it a few times to make sure the balance was fine, then put her shield in front of her and prepared to fight.

Two strikes bounced off the protective equipment, and she punished her aggressor by turning its brain into a mush with a well-placed strike. Another demon tried to flank her, she didn't leave it unattended and striked low, making it fall to the ground. Another soldier hacked at its body with an axe while she focused back to the front.

She saw one of the hulking demons nearby. It had already cleaved through a few soldiers with its giant axe, and she saw first-hand how the weapon cleanly cut through a steel shield and the poor soul behind it. Considering how little resistance the shield had opposed, it was a reasonable guess to think the axe was enchanted or somehow magically enhanced.

Raising her spirit and her voice, she ran to the aid of her men to deal with it and pushed one to the ground, avoiding him the fate of those before. She got up and faced to beast, ready to fight. Three men joined her while the others kept the demons at bay.

It wasn't really interested in such a fight and turned away to keep killing, but she punished his error by striking behind its knee and making it fall on one knee on the ground. It swiped its axe with one hand, but she blocked just in time. At least, this confirmed that the move she had seen earlier of cutting through a shield required a special skill or magic. However, the sheer strength behind it had number her shield arm. She couldn't even imagine what would happen if it striked at full power.

Now that it had understood it wouldn't be able to face away from the captain, it was ready to kill. It raised its arm high above its head, preparing for a downward strike that would probably obliterate anything in its way. Not intent on dying today, she actually got closer to it, too close for the beast's comfort. Before he could react, she mustered her strength and used her mace to strike at the knee again, this time without results. The armor was way too thick. The three men that had come with her had no better results. The first tried to cut with his sword, but the armor blocked. The second was a bit smarter and aimed for a gap between two plates with his axe, but despite blood being drawn it was nothing more than a scratch. The third had tried to aim at the throat with his spear, but the target was way too small and the weapon slid on a plate.

The axe then came down with terrifying strength and deeply gouged the ground. The armored demon didn't take it out immediately but freed his right hand to punch Valera, sending her sprawling to the ground. Immediately after that, it raised its right foot and tried to squish her with its own weight, but she rolled to the side to avoid. Unfortunately, she had to drop her shield in order to be quick enough.

While she was raising up, the short scream of one her men being cut in two alarmed her. This was a single demon! A single one, and even her, the best equipped and probably trained of the men around couldn't take it down. And the worse was that even more of these beasts were wreaking havoc, in addition to the countless minor demons flooding the gaps created.

She had to deal with it quickly! Giving her orders to the two remaining frightened men, she prepared.

"You two! Keep it occupied, I'll deal with it!"

There was uncertainty in the men's eyes, but they accepted the orders nonetheless. But what choice did they have? Even if they fled, the sheer numbers of demons who still hadn't joined the battle would overwhelm them before they could run a short distance.

While the beast was occupied, she focused in her fingers, more specifically on her ring and the power within. Feeling it building up, she looked up at the beast which had just cut the shaft of the spear-wielding man.

" **[Heroic spirit]!** "

Just at that moment, she felt it. The intoxicating feeling of power within her body. Blood pumping into her veins, muscles tensing and heart beating wildly. Her feet as nimble as a tiger, her arms as strong as a yeti, her mind as sharp as blade. Yes, this was indeed the power of heroes she could summon once a week.

In just that short moment, the two men had been cut down, proof of the beast's overwhelming strength. Valera charged, roaring an inarticulate war cry. The atmosphere around her had changed, and the balance had just brutally tipped into her favor.

When she got close enough, the demon hurled his axe at her. She nimbly rolled between its legs, aiming at the knees once again. But this time, she had more than enough power. The mace caved in the armor and shattered the bone underneath. It fell immediately, probably more surprised than anything. While it was getting up, she faced it again and holding the mace with her two hands, she striked the side of the helmet. The noise of crunched metal was accompanied by the beast falling again.

She was panting. The power was already thinning out, she could feel it. Yet, despite her best efforts, despite the beast literally having half of its face caved in, it was still trying to get up. It was shaking and struggled to find a balance, but it was still alive. Now that her arms were weakening, she also noticed her mace was very light. Too light. Glancing, she saw that it had broken, the top half having flown off somewhere leaving only the shaft in her hands.

Desperately holding onto the last strings of power, she unsheathed her magical blade and thrust it deeply into the demon's thin gap between the helmet and body armour. This time, it was done for good. It fell one last time, and didn't get up. She fell too, exhausted. Now that **[Heroic spirit]** had ran out, her whole body was shaking and her head hurting. This was the price to pay for a hero's power.

She was smiling. She had managed to kill at least one of them. It had required every last bit of power within her, but she had done it. She could see two demons were approaching her body paralyzed by exhaustion, but she kept smiling, because her death would have been worth it.

Their weapons had a sick glow, and she swore she could see her reflection into their grinning faces. Closing her eyes, she prepared for the killing blow.

What came instead was the noise of steel shattering. She reopened her eyes and saw a strange sight. A square piece of stone was hovering over her, apparently having protected her. The two demons were also looking at the stump of the sword left in the hand that striked.

 **[Mitra's lance]!**

The roaring voice was followed by the two demons being sent back to hell by what looked like two long stone spikes. Steps heavy enough to be heard despite the chaos of the battlefield caught her attention, and she soon saw its owner. A hulking man, entirely covered by a strange armor of crude stone and three similar spikes to the ones that had been shot earlier hovering behind his head.

"Now's not the time to rest, lady captain. Can you get up?"

She saw behind the man the legs of one a demon. She tried to warn him, but she could barely hold on her thoughts, much less articulate anything. What came out of her mouth instead was an inarticulate cry, but her fears were quickly resolved. Instead of the pained face of someone mortally injured she expected, the man barely registered that an axe had just shattered against his strange rock armor. Not even looking at his enemy, he made a few finger gestures and one of three rock spikes above his head ended the demon's life.

"I'll take you to safety, don't worry and leave everything into my hands."

It's not like she could do anything anyway. She let herself be picked up, trying to fend off the sleep that came with the adrenaline losing its effect. She noted that the man had somehow removed the rock armor on his hands up to the elbow, probably to avoid her getting uncomfortable by the hard material.

She heard more than seen the man getting on a horse and galloping away to the backline, where a potion was spread on her body and she slowly woke back up. Once another potion was given to her, she had retrieved enough energy to sit and look around. She had been brought to an improvised healer's area, where tens or even hundreds of bodies both conscious and unconscious were laid out and desperate healers doing what they could with their limited resources.

The area was slightly elevated, so she could see the battlefield and its entirety.

And she was speechless.

She had heard once the saying "You can kill a mage. It's better to avoid a battle mage. Don't even come close to a war mage if he's angry". But now that she was seeing in person a whole group of what she could only assume were war mages judging from the chaos, she understood why. Above the frontline, a hovering woman with flames atop her head and a red dress was roasting tens of demons with each spell, the temperature generated even killing those that were unfortunate to be too close. Not that far, she recognized the man that had saved her. He was still encased in his rock armor, and each one of his fists had the strength of a mountain. She even saw him crush the head of one of the larger demons, one of those she had struggled so much against.

More to the middle of the frontline, a man with a long beard and a dirty robe was knelt, the palm of his hands against the grass. She wondered what he was doing, until she noticed thick vines sprouting all around him. Each vine had some sort of orifice at its end, and judging from the face of the demons that were touched by the yellow liquid spit by the vines and their screams of pain, it worked quite well. Near the druid, a woman wearing a yellow dress and wielding a metallic staff had just finished an incantation. The first effects weren't visible, but it soon became obvious. All the metallic equipment the demons in front of her were wearing started to glow red hot and most of them died painfully, burned by an armor which ironically did the opposite of what it was supposed to do.

More on the left side of the frontline, two more of them were wreaking havoc. With a single word from a man in a black robe, at least thirty demons collapsed for seemingly no reason to never get back up. With another word, twenty more lost their minds and started to attack their allies. Near the small lake to the extreme left side of the valley, a man was literally "riding" a wave of water which engulfed everything in its path, only to leave broken demonic bodies and confused rare survivors which were quickly slaughtered by the regular soldiers.

Even if all of that was really impressive, one person was topping them all off. She recognized her easily, she was the daughter of the king after all. Erina Electra was flying above the demonic soldiers and launched black streaks of thunder from her hands. Each thunder exploded upon contact with the ground in a deafening noise and gouged deep craters. Those that narrowly avoided immediate destruction were killed by streaks of electricity which lingered around the site of the explosions and seemed to hunt for enemies like a snake looking for a prey.

No sane person would like to face a war mage. And the demons had a similar mind. With nothing to protect them against the devastatingly powerful Stargazers, they started to flee in an uncoordinated rout. The surviving commanders quickly reorganized their men, replacing the wounded with fresh soldiers from the back.

It seemed the second wave of demons had been repelled. But at what cost…

* * *

After witnessing the victory at the frontline, Armant made his way back up to the command tent. As he approached, his joy at the recent victory was quickly replaced by anxiety. The torches that were supposed to light it were extinguished and all of it was covered by darkness. No movement could be seen.

He hoped that it was only a trick of his mind. He hoped for the best. But reality is a harsh mistress.

Everyone was dead.

Melkar the strategist, his students and the thirty foot knights that were supposed to protect them. The signs of a struggle were obvious, with countless bodies strewn around. They seemed to have been attacked by a flock of flying demons who looked like a twisted and cruel version of a harpy. With no hair, purple skin, crab-like claws instead of hands and leathery wings, it was a being born out of a nightmare. The number of demonic bodies were much more numerous than those of humans, but ultimately their numbers had been enough to overwhelm the defenders. The silent cannons were enough proof that a similar fate had met the canoneers.

Thanks to Li Wei's help, Armant cleaned the area around the table on which was the map of the battlefield and focused. What could he do? It was obvious the human army had suffered crippling losses during the last assault, as well as a huge drop in morale. It was only thanks to the war mages that everyone hadn't fled already.

Could he beat the demons in a battle of attrition? No. Not at this point, the humans had lost too much. Could he beat the demon's morale? The only thing he could think of would be defeating the demon general, but he didn't know where or what it was. The war mages played a huge role on the current balance of power, but he knew thanks to Erina that their mana reserve wasn't infinite, and the mana potions neither. He had spoken with them before, and after making an effort like they just did they had told him they would at least need to rest for an hour.

Speaking of Erina, she came back on top of her horse. Shock was written all over her face, but when she saw Armant hunched over the map she said nothing and came at his side. The time of mourning would come later, if they survived at all.

They tried to think of every possible way to turn the tide, but it simply wasn't possible. Even if the war mages could somehow keep casting spells for hours, they were only six, seven counting Erina, against a tide of more than fifteen thousand demons.

It was frustrating. All these efforts since coming back to Rida. Was it for naught? The crippling injury Erina had only recently recovered from? The inhabitants of Fraham? All the soldiers dead and which would surely die soon if things stayed as they were? And even after that, what would be able to stop the demonic invasion?

After facing the assault, both Armant and Erina had understood that what attacked them was merely a vanguard. A force that was sent merely to scout and weaken the first human defences. Once the main army would spread past the Griffon's Claw pass, he doubted even the well-trained and well-equipped Ridan army would be able to face it.

The monster both Armant and Erina had seen in Fraham were overwhelmingly powerful. Sure, cannons and war mages were powerful too, but their supply in the short run were low. Even if they somehow managed to fight the demons back, it would leave the country bleeding and weakened.

What was happening currently at the frontline was merely a vision of the country's future in Armant's eyes. Now, amidst the demon foot soldiers and armored beasts were magic casters which forced the war mages to cast defence spells, reducing their damage potential. Meanwhile, the weakened support to the Ridan soldiers meant that they couldn't hold on for long.

He could already see it weakening. Soldiers were clearly hesitating between fighting and fleeing for their lives. The captains were struggling more and more to maintain the frontline, that was if they weren't being attacked by the demons which prioritized them as the main threats.

The event that broke the camel's back was when one of the demon magic casters cast a particularly powerful spell which exploded in the human ranks, sending green flames all around and immolating more than one hundred men immediately with a deafening roar. As if getting a clue, the remaining ones cast the same spells, wreaking havoc in a show of sick green light.

That was the end. Upon the sight of so many of their comrades burned in the span of a few seconds, the army as a whole fled in an uncoordinated rout. People ran over each other, trampling the bodies both dead and alive in their desperate state of mind.

The luckiest were the horsemen which galloped as fast as possible away from the battlefield.

Watching this, Armant was in some sort of haze. It wasn't even despair anymore. It was just… Nothing. He knew it was the end. The war mages stayed for a little longer, but they soon tore teleport scrolls and disappeared in a white flash. The ground shaked from the thousand of boots united in a common goal: running as fast as possible.

A detached corner of his mind was screaming to flee too, to take the teleport scroll which were neatly stacked in a tent just nearby and use it. But something kept him from doing that. Meanwhile, Erina was holding his shoulder and shouting in his ear, but he couldn't even hear her.

It was at this moment that the something he had hoped for came. He didn't know why, but he was certain that something would happen.

Behind them, a portal of swirling darkness appeared. It was strange. It was as if someone had taken a piece of the dark night sky and placed it vertically. From inside, two figures stepped out. The first was a short and slender figure of a female dark elf with blond hair, holding a twisted wooden staff in one hand. Her clothes consisted of a blue scale shirt under a white vest with subtle golden decorations, a white short skirt and what looked like expertly crafted leather boots. Around her neck, a silver acorn hung on a silver chain.

Upon this sight, Li Wei who had been waiting nearby immediately jumped in front of the brother and sister to protect them. An assassination attempt was still possible. However, when the second figure stepped out, she immediately dropped her posture, because an angel was shining. At least that's how she saw it.

An immaculate figure of a humanoid woman in a white dress and golden threads which rested on her breasts. She seemed human at first, but her vertical eye slits, black wings at the waist and horns sprouting from the side of the head told the contrary. Her face was almost a motherly figure and both men and women would feel attraction towards her. It was as if someone had given life to the word "perfection".

Both Armant and Erina knew her, they had seen her when they were at Ainz Ooal Gown's residence after all. Nevertheless, she still presented herself.

"Hello and rejoice, humans! I am Albedo, under the command of Ainz Ooal Gown and prime minister of the sorcerous kingdom."

More from habit than conscious actions, Armant also presented himself. It was a surreal sight. Men were screaming and dying, demons laughed in the distance and all that chaos approached this site closer and closer, yet the two of them talked calmly to one another.

Erina had witnessed Ainz Ooal Gown's strength before, and it wasn't strange for her to assume that she had no chance against her and the dark elf behind. With that in mind, she whispered to Li Wei's ear who adopted a neutral yet tense stance. Meanwhile, the conversation had evolved.

"-you fled while his sorcerous majesty had been gravely injured. That is a capital offense."

Armant didn't refute the fact or try to explain himself. After all, it was true. Back in Roble, Ainz had apparently lost against Jaldabaoth and had been sent flying far away in the Abelion hills. Anyone who had seen that could have assumed that the undead king wouldn't come back. It was a safe guess. Yet, Armant, Erina and Wilhelm had fled at that time. They didn't try to search for the sorcerer king. They didn't even try to save anyone as they fled.

He wanted to fall on his knees and ask for forgiveness, but his pride as the prince didn't allow him to. Instead, he slightly lowered his head, the two women behind him mimicking the movement. This made them miss the slight smile forming on her lips.

"Prime minister Albedo, I have no excuse. I will accept a price to pay as an apology."

Albedo has easily predicted this situation, and as such she knew what to ask for.

"One tenth of Ridan lands, accompanied with its citizens, assets and riches once you become the king."

Erina and Armant managed to not gasp, but the price was truly enormous to pay. One tenth of the land, in addition to all the assets that would be lost, would be accompanied by a lot of discontent nobles. This would also spread unrest to the commoners. After all, what king gave up his lands? They didn't know what had happened in Roble. All they would see would be that the king gave up his lands freely. The probability of a revolt under such conditions was quite high. It was even higher if one assumed that the sorcerer king would bring undead labor and guards with him.

However, did they have a choice? If they refused these conditions, they could very well bring Ainz Ooal Gown's enmity along with his armies. One tenth or the whole country, along with the damages that a traditional war brought? The choice was evident.

"I will respect that wish, prime minister Albedo. However as you can see my army has been defeated. If these demons aren't stopped, I might have no lands soon to give you. May I request your aid?"

She looked at the demons approaching.

"Of course. Now that we have a mutual agreement, we shall help you. Mare? You know what to do…"

Armant would be hard pressed to speak of a "mutual agreement", but of course he didn't say anything. Instead, he looked curiously at the mysterious dark elf. What could a single person do against such a tide?

The dark elf named Mare stepped forward and solidly anchored her staff in front of her, holding it with both hands and closed her eyes.

Erina was the first to react. As a magic caster herself, she was more sensitive to the flux of mana around her. And what she felt coming from the frail dark elf was more than anything she had ever feared to feel.

It was like being in the eye of a storm. Magic energies left Mare's body in such quantity that even Armant who had close to zero sensitivity to magic could feel something ominous preparing. It scared Erina as much as it impressed her. Such a great quantity of mana, if the dark elf ever lost control of her powers a giant crater at least one hundred meters deep would form. But just as if it was nothing, the dark elf casually waved her left hand, and all the mana gathered in a sphere the size of an apple on top of her staff.

"He-Here I go! **[Maximise magic: Call of the greater spirits]**!"

Then, the mana dissipated. To an outsider, it would seem that the spell had failed, and the magic power had disappeared. Yet, Erina could feel it. A wave of mana was coursing the earth beneath their feet towards the demon forces.

After a short moment, the valley started moving.

It wasn't an understatement. Literally everything in the valley started to move. The boulders gathered and formed giant stone golems. Trees tore out their roots from the earth and transformed into treants and dryads. The water from the lake took the graceful form of a naiad who unleashed her powers. Vines invested the dead bodies littering the earth of the valley and rose them back up in a parody of necromancy. The fires that had been started by magic a little bit everywhere gathered into fire elementals. Even the weapons lying on the ground tore and twisted into metal golems.

Chaos immediately took hold of the demon forces. The sheer number of enemies who had appeared from absolutely everywhere left no room to breathe, and the whole army was being slaughtered. At this rate, it might only take ten minutes for all of them to be killed. There was no escaping as vines came out of the ground to catch the demons that tried.

Mare and Albedo calmly gazed at the sight, while the three humans tried to not appear… Too much of whatever they felt. Maybe it was hope or joy, but also fear, admiration, anxiousness and longing.

From the back of the valley, a terrifying roar shook the very air. Squinting their eyes, it was hard to see what was happening. It looked like the earth itself was moving, but as the being that roared approached, it became quickly apparent.

A giant demon who dwarfed all of his army, higher than a house and holding in his hands a giant scythe. It was humanoid in appearance, but the similarities stopped there. It had the bloated look of a drowned man and a sick greenish skin, countless opened wounds from which pus and unidentified liquids poured out and a bald head with a face consisting solely of a single large eye in the middle. Every swing of its scythe cut elementals and demons alike, but it didn't change anything at the countless numbers clinging onto his body and tearing it apart piece by piece.

Fear took hold of the three humans. _What_ was that? Who could kill it? Could something even injure it? They also realized how outmatched they were from the beginning. Even if the entirety of the Ridan army was there, Armant doubted anything could be done to slow it down, let alone stop it. Judging from its size and strength, it wouldn't be a dangerous guess to think of it as the enemy general.

However, terror wasn't felt. That was because both Mare and Albedo stayed perfectly calm upon the sight of such a being. The prime minister frowned her nose.

"How foul. Mare, kill it quickly please."

"Y-Yes Albedo! **[Druantia's right arm!]** "

This was only one of the six spells of the Druantia spell serie which allowed to summon the tree god, Druantia. Individually, summoning only one of the body parts of Druantia acted like a spell instead of a summon. Yet, this single spell of the ninth tier was more than enough to deal with the monstrosity approaching their location.

In front of the large demon, the glowing green outline of an arm covered in tree bark formed out of thin air. It arched back, preparing to launch a devastating hit. Even still being torn alive, the demon recognized the danger of the situation tried to turn around. But not even before he could take one step, the godly fist came so fast it broke the sound barrier, and in a thundering noise literally destroyed the demon's top half.

There was no better describing it. Everything above the demon's waist had been pulverized and covered a very large area behind it in a greenish-reddish goo.

All the Druantia spells had a slow action phase. Any player from Yggdrasyl would have been able to see the punch coming and avoid it in time, but the level 70 demon was far from the speed of a player. And even further since it was a demon that had less speed than average in order to have better regenerative abilities and raw power.

But no regenerative power could heal half of the body simply disappearing.

Even Erina and Armant who had been trained to retain their countenance couldn't help but open their mouth big, like a fish out of the water.

Albedo simply smiled, and left through the same portal that had brought them here accompanied by Mare.

For another five minutes straight, the three lone humans on top of the hill were paralyzed. Not by fear or awe, but just from incomprehension. Their brains were trying to process what just happened. They wished it was an illusion. After all, how could a single being hold such power within it? Yet, the last remnants of the demons being slaughtered and the remaining half of the demon general were enough proof that what had just happened was reality.

When they finally managed to regain control of their facial expressions, Armant looked at what men were left. When they had witnessed the situation turning back into their favor, a very small amount of them had gathered around the tent. None of them had seen Albedo and Mare, so they thought that Erina or an artefact coming from the royal armory had produced such an extraordinary result.

There wasn't much of them. One hundred? Maybe one hundred and fifty? It was pitifully low compared to the starting number of soldiers, but Armant didn't blame them. How could he? The battle would have been lost without Albedo's and Mare's presence. And even for those that stayed long enough to see the whole valley coming alive and then the large demon defeated, feeling terror was an understandable feeling.

Rather, those that stayed were the epitome of bravery. Of the call of duty. Of everything that meant being a human in a world populated by countless monsters. None of them spoke. Everyone was silent, watching the royal brother and sister, illuminated by a few magic lights Erina had conjured. Their eyes reflected not a single drop of joy. None could have in front of the list of today's dead. However, hope and perseverance shined. If they stuck together, they would be able to fight the demons back.

With the noise of the last demons being slaughtered by the elementals as a background, Armant started to lead his men accompanied by Erina and Li Wei to the capital. The prince and princess were back, and it was time to prepare for an all-out war.

* * *

 **Hello there, author here,**

 **Originally I planned to release the last two chapters together in some sort of "grand finale", but it's really taking a lot of time, so I decided to release this chapter first, and the last later. Hope you don't mind.**

 **Reviews are very welcome, I tried to create a believable strategy for both sides, but I would like to hear your ideas.**

 **See you next publication!**


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